Oscillometry effective treatment option for acute asthma in children, finds study

Written By : Medha Baranwal |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2020-08-08T08:09:07+05:30 | Updated On 8 Aug 2020 8:09 AM IST

USA: Results from a small feasibility study show oscillometry to be safe and responsive in children presenting to the emergency department (ED) with acute asthma exacerbations. The results are published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Emergency department treatment is variable, leading to prolonged ED length of stay, inefficient use of asthma therapies, and unnecessary hospitalizations.

Nidhya Navanandan, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, and associates collected vital signs, Pulmonary Asthma Score, and respiratory impedance by oscillometry in children aged 4 to 18 years who were presented to an urban tertiary care children's hospital emergency department for an acute asthma exacerbation.

Oscillometry was performed 3 times: prior to receiving treatment, after completion of initial therapies, and 2 hours post initial therapy. 20 children were included in the study; the average age was 9.3 years, 50% were boys, and 30% were identified as African American.

Key findings of the study include:

There was an average of 31.0 minutes from time of emergency department triage to initial oscillometry assessment, 50.5 between measurements 1 and 2, and 118.3 minutes between measurements 2 and 3.
A total of 75% of the participants were able to successfully complete the initial oscillometry assessment.
In the remaining 5 patients, 2 were unable to perform because of the severity of exacerbations, and 3 did not have acceptable measurements.

"Oscillometry may be a valuable bedside measure of lung function to direct [emergency department] treatment and disposition decisions and reduce the clinical morbidity associated with asthma," concluded the authors.

The study, "Oscillometry for acute asthma in the pediatric emergency department: A feasibility study," is published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2020.07.002

Source : Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

Medha Baranwal

MSc. Biotechnology

Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751