Is driving gas flow rate clinically important for nebulizer therapy?
Ten patients with stable asthma were studied to see whether the flow rate used to drive a nebulizer was clinically important. Each received 1 mg of salbutamol in 2 ml of physiological saline via a Sandoz 'Lifeline' nebulizer driven by piped oxygen at 8, 6 and 4 litres/min on separate randomly allocated occasions. Although the time for nebulization was significantly longer as flow rate was reduced, there was no significant difference in the bronchodilator response.
D000328:Adult; D000336:Aerosols; D000368:Aged; D000420:Albuterol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests
D000336:Aerosols; D000420:Albuterol