Surfactant therapy for bronchiolitis in critically ill infants

Association between surfactant protein B gene locus and acute bronchiolitis in infants

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between surfactant protein B (SFTPB) C1580T polymorphism and acute bronchiolitis. Materials and Methods: The study analyzed the allele frequency and genotype distribution for the SFTPB C1580T polymorphism using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique in 103 acute bronchiolitis infants and 102 healthy infants. Results: The results showed no association between SFTPB C1580T polymorphism and clinical characteristics of acute bronchiolitis. The distribution of the CT genotype was higher in acute bronchiolitis infants (43%) than in healthy subjects (39%) and distribution of the TT genotype was found lower in acute bronchiolitis infants (38%) than in healthy subjects (41%). No significant differences in genotype distribution and allele frequency for the SFTPB C1580T polymorphism were found between case group and control group Conclusion: SFTPB C1580T gene polymorphism plays no important role in susceptibility to acute bronchiolitis. Further work on the relevance of SFTPB C1580T polymorphism in larger cohorts will require validating our results.

Efficacy study of pulmonary surfactant combined with assisted ventilation for acute respiratory distress syndrome management of term neonates

The clinical efficacy of pulmonary surfactant (PS) combined with assisted ventilation was assessed for acute respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) management of term neonates. The total sample size was of 60 subjects. Group I: Experimental group, 30 cases were treated with standard of care with tracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation and PS (100-200 mg/kg). In case of hypoxaemia present even after 12 h standard of care was administered again, up to 4 times. Group II: Control group, 30 cases treated with conventional tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. PaO₂, PaO₂/FiO₂ and X-ray were compared between the two groups after 24-h treatment. Analysis of the results indicate that the PS combined with ventilation can improve the clinical symptoms and blood gas analysis index of ARDS neonates. The PaO₂, PaCO₂, PaO₂/FiO₂ levels were improved in the two groups after treatment, the improvement effect of the experimental group was better than in the control group, P<0.05. The surfactant therapy is proved to be effective as preventive and rescue treatment of NRDS in term neonates. This result is supported by conventional concepts and clinical confirmation in patients with lung injury-associated respiratory failure.

Principal findings of systematic reviews for the management of acute bronchiolitis in children

Bronchiolitis is the most common cause of hospitalization among infants during the first 12 months of life, with high direct and indirect cost for health system and families. Different treatment approaches co-exist worldwide resulting in many drugs prescribed, without any proven benefit. Twenty systematic reviews of randomized clinical trials (SRCTs) on management of acute bronchiolitis in children were retrieved through 5 databases and their methodological quality was determined using an AMSTAR tool. Epinephrine showed impact only in short-term outcomes among outpatients (reduced admission at day 1 and improved the clinical score in the first 2 hours, compared to placebo) and inpatients (decreased length of stay (LOS) and improved saturation only in the first 2 hours, compared to nebulized salbutamol, but with high heterogeneity). Nebulized 3% saline among inpatients (but not in the emergency department setting) decreased hospital LOS. In small trials, exogenous surfactant among children may decrease the duration of mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit LOS and had favorable effects on oxygenation and CO2 elimination at 24 hrs. Although several SRCTs are currently available, only few treatments show clinically important improvements. Therefore, it is still difficult to prepare a well-established and accepted guideline for the treatment of acute bronchiolitis.

Surfactant therapy for bronchiolitis in critically ill infants

BACKGROUND

Bronchiolitis is one of the most frequent causes of respiratory failure in infants; some infants will require intensive care and mechanical ventilation. There is lack of evidence regarding effective treatment for bronchiolitis other than supportive care. Abnormalities of surfactant quantity or quality (or both) have been observed in severe cases of bronchiolitis. Exogenous surfactant administration appears to favourably change the haemodynamics of the lungs and may be a potentially promising therapy for severe bronchiolitis. This is an update of a review published in Issue 9, 2012. We did not identify any new studies for inclusion, and our conclusions remain unchanged.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the efficacy of exogenous surfactant administration (i.e. intratracheal administration of surfactant of any type (whether animal-derived or synthetic), at any dose and at any time after start of ventilation) compared to placebo, no intervention or standard care in reducing mortality and the duration of ventilation in infants and children with bronchiolitis requiring mechanical ventilation.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Studies (CENTRAL; 2015, Issue 5) which contains the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group's Specialised Register; MEDLINE (1948 to June week 3, 2015); EMBASE (1974 to June 2015); CINAHL (1982 to June 2015); LILACS (1985 to June 2015); and Web of Science (1985 to June 2015).

SELECTION CRITERIA

We considered prospective, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs evaluating the effect of exogenous surfactant in infants and children with bronchiolitis requiring mechanical ventilation.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors selected studies independently. We extracted the data using a predefined proforma, independently analysed the data, and performed meta-analyses.

MAIN RESULTS

We included three small RCTs enrolling 79 participants. Two trials did not use a placebo in the control arms and the third trial used air placebo. Two included studies reported no mortality. We judged all three of the included studies to be at low risk or unclear risk across all risk of bias categories; we did not judge any of the studies to be at high risk of bias in any category. Our pooled analysis of the three trials revealed that duration of mechanical ventilation was not significantly different between the groups (mean difference (MD) -63.04, 95% confidence interval (CI) -130.43 to 4.35 hours) but duration of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was less in the surfactant group compared to the control group: MD -3.31, 95% CI -6.38 to -0.25 days. After excluding one trial which produced significant heterogeneity, the duration of mechanical ventilation and duration of ICU stay were significantly lower in the surfactant group compared to the control group: MD -28.99, 95% CI -40.10 to -17.87 hours; and MD -1.81, 95% CI -2.42 to -1.19 days, respectively. Use of surfactant had favourable effects on oxygenation and CO2 elimination. No adverse effects and no complications were observed in any of the three included studies. The level of evidence for duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of intensive care unit stay, oxygenation parameters, and carbon dioxide parameters was of moderate quality.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Use of surfactant had favourable effects on duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of ICU stay, oxygenation, and CO2 elimination. However, the studies are few and small (n = 79) so available evidence is insufficient to establish the effectiveness of surfactant therapy for bronchiolitis in critically ill infants who require mechanical ventilation. There is a need for larger trials with adequate power and a cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of exogenous surfactant therapy for infants with bronchiolitis who require intensive care management.

Recent advances in the management of acute bronchiolitis

Acute bronchiolitis is characterized by acute wheezing in infants or children and is associated with signs or symptoms of respiratory infection; it is rarely symptomatic in adults and the most common etiologic agent is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Usually it does not require investigation, treatment is merely supportive and a conservative approach seems adequate in the majority of children, especially for the youngest ones (<3 months); however, clinical scoring systems have been proposed and admission in hospital should be arranged in case of severe disease or a very young age or important comorbidities. Apnea is a very important aspect of the management of young infants with bronchiolitis. This review focuses on the clinical, radiographic, and pathologic characteristics, as well as the recent advances in management of acute bronchiolitis.

Cost-analysis of the WHO Essential Medicines List in A Resource-Limited Setting: Experience from A District Hospital in India

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been publishing the essential medicines list (EML) since 1977. The EML includes the most efficacious, safe and cost-effective drugs for the most relevant public health conditions worldwide. The WHO performs a cost-effectiveness analysis within each therapeutic group, but very little is known about which therapeutic groups are costliest for hospitals that adopt the WHO EML concept. In this study, we have described the annual consumption of medicines in a district hospital in India, that limited the list of available drugs according to the WHO EML concept. Only 21 drugs constituted 50% of the hospital spending. Anti-infective medicines accounted for 41% of drug spending, especially antiretrovirals which were used to treat HIV infection. Among other therapeutic groups, insulin had the highest impact on the hospital budget. We identified medicines used in perinatal care, which included anti-D immunoglobulin and lung surfactants, that were used rarely, but bore a relatively high cost burden. The results of this study indicate that, in district that adopt the WHO EML, antiretrovirals and antibiotics were the top therapeutic groups for the drug hospital budgets.

Recent advances in management of bronchiolitis

Background

Bronchiolitis is one of the major causes for hospital admissions in infants. Managing bronchiolitis, both in the outpatient and inpatient setting remains a challenge to the treating pediatrician. The effectiveness of various interventions used for infants with bronchiolitis remains unclear.

Need and purpose

To evaluate the evidence supporting the use of currently available treatment and preventive strategies for infants with bronchiolitis and to provide practical guidelines to the practitioners managing children with bronchiolitis.

Methods

A search of articles published on bronchiolitis was performed using PubMed. The areas of focus were diagnosis, treatment and prevention of bronchiolitis in children. Relevant information was extracted from English language studies published over the last 20 years. In addition, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was searched.

Results and Conclusions

Supportive care, comprising of taking care of oxygenation and hydration, remains the corner-stone of therapy in bronchiolitis. Pulse oximetry helps in guiding the need for oxygen administration. Several recent evidence-based reviews have suggested that bronchodilators or corticosteroids lack efficacy in bronchiolitis and should not be routinely used. A number of other novel therapies (such as nebulized hypertonic saline, heliox, CPAP, montelukast, surfactant, and inhaled furosemide) have been evaluated in clinical trials, and although most of them did not show any beneficial results, some like hypertonic saline, surfactant, CPAP have shown promising results.

Acute bronchiolitis in infants, a review

Acute viral bronchiolitis is one of the most common medical emergency situations in infancy, and physicians caring for acutely ill children will regularly be faced with this condition. In this article we present a summary of the epidemiology, pathophysiology and diagnosis, and focus on guidelines for the treatment of bronchiolitis in infants. The cornerstones of the management of viral bronchiolitis are the administration of oxygen and appropriate fluid therapy, and overall a “minimal handling approach” is recommended. Inhaled adrenaline is commonly used in some countries, but the evidences are sparse. Recently, inhalation with hypertonic saline has been suggested as an optional treatment. When medical treatment fails to stabilize the infants, non-invasive and invasive ventilation may be necessary to prevent and support respiratory failure. It is important that relevant treatment algorithms exist, applicable to all levels of the treatment chain and reflecting local considerations and circumstances.

Acute bronchiolitis

Bronchiolitis is the most common lower respiratory tract infection to affect infants and toddlers. High-risk patients include infants younger than 3 months, premature infants, children with immunodeficiency, children with underlying cardiopulmonary or neuromuscular disease, or infants prone to apnea, severe respiratory distress, and respiratory failure. Bronchiolitis is a self-limited disease in healthy infants and children. Treatment is usually symptomatic, and the goal of therapy is to maintain adequate oxygenation and hydration. Use of a high-flow nasal cannula is becoming common for children with severe bronchiolitis.