Letters to the Editor

Indian Pediatrics 2002; 39:212  

Other Option in Bronchiolitis

The recent editorial(1) on ‘Wheezing in Children’ appropriately discusses various controversies. However, it has left two areas of treatment of acute bronchiolitis completely untouched. Firstly, a mention of ipratropium bromide delivered either by nebulization or MDI and spacer would not be out of place. While ipratropium clearly enchances the relief of airway obstruction that salbutamol provides in acute asthma, its role in bronchiolitis is controversial, but only as controversial as the role of other remedies such as injectable, oral and nebulized steroids or the use of b stimulants [salbutamol or adrenaline]. Secondly, certain studies(2) have shown that the use of Chinese herbs may reduce the symptom duration by 2-6 days. In a condition like bronchiolitis where we as clinicians have constantly struggled to find an appropriate mode of treatment for the disease, every remedy, however controversial, deserves a mention.

M.U. Sanklecha,
9C, 1st Floor, Sindh Chambers,
Colaba, Mumbai 400 005,
India.
E-mail: [email protected]

 

1. Torcillo PJ. Wheezing and the management algorithms for pneumonia in developing countries. Indian Pediatr 2001; 38: 821-826.

2. Kong XT, Fant HT, Jiang JQ. Treatment of acute bronchiolitis with Chinese herbs. Arch Dis Child 1993; 68: 468-469.