Comparison of the Outcome of Treatment of Nebulized Salbutamol With and Without Nebulized Magnesium Sulphate in Children Presenting With Acute Asthma at Tertiary Care Hospital, Hyderabad

Abstract

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of nebulized salbutamol with and without magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) in improving oxygen saturation among children presenting with acute asthma.

Methodology: A randomized controlled trial over six months at a tertiary care hospital, on 100 paediatric patients aged 2 to 16 years, with a clinical diagnosis of acute asthma (SpO2 <90% and Pediatric Asthma Severity Index (PASI) ≥12). Patients were randomly assigned them into two groups. Group A received nebulized salbutamol with 3 mL (150 mg) of magnesium sulphate, while Group B received nebulized salbutamol with 3 mL of normal saline. Subsequently each child was monitored for 90 minutes post-treatment and oxygen saturation (SpO₂) was measured as the primary outcome using pulse oximetry.

Results: Overall mean age and gender distribution were almost similar in both groups without significant difference. Post treatment at 90 minutes, Group A achieved significantly higher oxygen saturation (96.84±1.08%) compared to Group B (95.24±0.56%) (p=0.001), whereas both groups ultimately reached to normal levels of oxygen saturation. On post stratification analysis, older children (7–12 years) in Group B showed significantly better oxygen saturation compared to younger children (p=0.002), though no such age-related difference was found in Group A (p=0.224). There was no significant differences found in mean of oxygen saturation according to gender of children in both group (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Both treatment approaches ultimately restored the oxygen levels to the normal range, while the combination of nebulized magnesium sulphate and salbutamol achieving significantly better oxygen saturation at 90 minutes, with faster and more reliable clinical improvement.