RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Nebulized furosemide has been shown to be protective against bronchoconstricting stimuli. METHODS: To investigate whether inhaled furosemide would exhibit an additional therapeutic effect in children with acute asthma we performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in which patients with acute asthma attack were randomized to receive either nebulized salbutamol (0.15 mg/kg) plus nebulized furosemide (10 mg/m(2)) or nebulized salbutamol (0.15 mg/kg) plus nebulized saline as placebo. In all patients, clinical asthma scores (CAS) were determined before and after drug administration. Peak expiratory flow rates (PEFR) were measured by a peak flow meter. RESULTS: CAS and PEFR improved in both groups with nebulized salbutamol treatment. The CAS changed from 3.56 +/- 2.13 to 2.06 +/- 1.84 (p = 0.0001) in the study group and from 4.44 +/- 2.63 to 2.56 +/- 1.86 (p = 0.0003) in the control group. PEFR increased from 177.50 +/- 65.88 to 221.88 +/- 66.05 L/min in the first group (p = 0.0001) and from 183.13 +/- 51.73 to 218.13 +/- 60.25 in the second group (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Adding nebulized furosemide to nebulized salbutamol in pediatric patients experiencing an acute asthma attack did not produce greater improvement in clinical (p = 0.3829) or spirometric (p = 0.3839) parameters than nebulized salbutamol alone.