Nebulized normal saline improves respiratory symptoms in acute bronchiolitis: JAMA

USA: Nebulized normal saline (NS) may be an active treatment for acute viral bronchiolitis, according to a recent review published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Nebulized NS is generally used as a placebo in clinical trials evaluating therapies for acute viral bronchiolitis.  

In therapeutic trials for acute viral bronchiolitis, consistent clinical improvement in groups that received nebulized normal saline as placebo raised the question of whether nebulized NS acts as a treatment rather than a placebo.

Samantha A. House, Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, and colleagues undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials in acute viral bronchiolitis using nebulized [normal saline] with 2 objectives: to compare nebulized [normal saline] with other forms of placebo (eg, non-nebulized placebo or sham nebulization) and to estimate the association of nebulized [normal saline] with short-term physiologic measures of respiratory status in randomized clinical trials in which it was used as the placebo.