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. 2017 Jul 31;7(8):483-491.
doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2017-0002. Online ahead of print.

Multicenter Observational Study of the Use of Nebulized Hypertonic Saline to Treat Children Hospitalized for Bronchiolitis From 2008 to 2014

Joshua Davis  1 , Amy D Thompson  2 , Jonathan M Mansbach  3 , Pedro A Piedra  4 , Kohei Kasagawa  5 , Ashley F Sullivan  5 , Janice A Espinola  5 , Carlos A Camargo Jr  5
Affiliations

Multicenter Observational Study of the Use of Nebulized Hypertonic Saline to Treat Children Hospitalized for Bronchiolitis From 2008 to 2014

Joshua Davis et al. Hosp Pediatr. .

Abstract

Objectives: Among children hospitalized for bronchiolitis, we examined temporal trends in the use of hypertonic saline (HTS) and the characteristics associated with receiving this treatment.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from 2 large, multicenter prospective cohort studies that included young children hospitalized with bronchiolitis during 5 winter seasons (2008-2014). Our outcome was receipt of HTS any time during the preadmission visit or hospitalization. For comparison with the observed trends in HTS use, we conducted a PubMed literature review of studies evaluating HTS use for bronchiolitis. We classified publications according to their assessment of HTS efficacy (positive, negative, or neutral).

Results: Among 2709 hospitalized children, 241 (8.9%) received HTS. There was marked variability in HTS use by site (0%-91%), with use more common among children admitted to the ICU than those treated on the ward (31% vs 15%). Over the study period, administration of HTS increased from 2% during the 2008-2009 season to 27% during the 2011-2012 season, but then it decreased to 11% during the 2013-2014 season. Before 2010, the number of PubMed HTS publications ranged from 0 to 3 articles per year, with all classified as either positive or neutral. The number of positive publications increased in 2010 (n = 5), whereas negative publications peaked in 2014 (n = 4).

Conclusions: Use of HTS in children hospitalized with bronchiolitis increased during the 2008 to 2012 winter seasons and then declined. These findings paralleled trends in the HTS literature, with positive articles encouraging HTS use in early years followed by a growing number of neutral and negative articles after 2012.

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Conflict of interest statement

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Trends in HTS use for bronchiolitis compared with relevant literature. A, HTS use among children hospitalized for bronchiolitis from 2008 to 2014. B, Number of PubMed publications evaluating HTS use for bronchiolitis from 2002 to 2014.
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