Value of combining B2 sympathomimetic metered aerosol and oral theophylline in children with asthma

Abstract

We report the results of a double blind controlled trial on 12 children with clinical asthma. Each child received three different treatment regimens; terbutaline sulphate 0.5 mg (Bricanyl) via a metered aerosol; orally administered theophylline 5 mg/kg (Somophyllin); or a combination of both. As expected, the metered aerosol therapy produced significantly greater early bronchodilatation than therapy with theophylline alone. In addition, the combined therapy produced a significantly greater bronchodilatation after three hours than the metered aerosol alone (P less than 0.05). This trend was also observed after one and two hours, but did not reach significance (0.1 greater than P greater than 0.05). We conclude that there is value in combining a B2 sympathomimetic metered aerosol and oral theophylline in children with asthma.