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When Is There Enough Benefit to Warrant Adoption Into Clinical Practice?

Terry P. Klassen, MD, MSc, FRCPC

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1996;150(11):1120-1121.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

FACED WITH an infant suffering from bronchiolitis, should a clinician administer a bronchodilator? Few questions in pediatrics have divided clinicians to a greater extent. Some have suggested the dividing line to be the Atlantic Ocean, with pediatricians in the United Kingdom seldom prescribing bronchodilators as opposed to the North American pediatricians who advise use of bronchodilators, such as albuterol, more frequently.¹

The uncertainty about the effectiveness of bronchodilators can be traced to some of the earlier studies^2-6 that claimed no benefit of their use. Those studies, however, were performed on small sample sizes (range, 7-17 infants), and their subjects were examined during the convalescent phase of illness. Additionally, many of the infants were sedated during the measurement process, which in itself could alter the disease severity.⁷ Some authors^8,9 have questioned the reliability and validity of such pulmonary function tests in young infants.

A new era was . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Ottawa, Ontario

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