Logo image
Back
Oral versus intravenous corticosteroids in children hospitalized with asthma
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Oral versus intravenous corticosteroids in children hospitalized with asthma

Jack M Becker, Anjali Arora, Richard J Scarfone, Nancy D Spector, Mary Elizabeth Fontana-Penn, Edward Gracely, Mark D Joffe, Donald P Goldsmith and J.Jeffrey Malatack
Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, v 103(4), pp 586-590
1999
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0091-6749(99)70228-9
PMID: 10200005
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0091-6749(99)70228-9View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze),  Open
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0091-6749(99)70228-9View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

hospitalized status asthmaticus methylprednisolone length of stay asthma Children prednisone
Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that in the emergency treatment of an asthma exacerbation, corticosteroids used in conjunction with β-agonists result in lower hospitalization rates for children and adults. Furthermore, orally administered corticosteroids have been found to be effective in the treatment of outpatients with asthma. However, similar data in inpatients is lacking. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of oral prednisone versus intravenous methylprednisolone in equivalent doses for the treatment of an acute asthma exacerbation in hospitalized children. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, double-placebo study comparing oral prednisone at 2 mg/kg/dose (maximum 120 mg/dose) twice daily versus intravenous methylprednisolone at 1 mg/kg/dose (maximum 60 mg/dose) four times daily in a group of patients 2 through 18 years of age hospitalized for an acute asthma exacerbation. All patients were assessed by a clinical asthma score 3 times a day. The main study outcome was length of hospitalization; total length of stay and time elapsed before β-agonists could be administered at 6-hour intervals. Duration of supplemental oxygen administration and peak flow measurements were secondary outcome measures. Results: Sixty-six patients were evaluated. Children in the prednisone group had a mean length of stay of 70 hours compared with 78 hours for the methylprednisolone group ( P = .52). Children in the prednisone group were successfully weaned to β-agonists in 6-hour intervals after 59 hours compared with 68 hours for the methylprednisolone group ( P = .47). Patients receiving prednisone required supplemental oxygen for 30 hours compared with 52 hours for the methylprednisolone group ( P = .04). Conclusion: There was no difference in length of hospital stay between asthmatic patients receiving oral prednisone and those receiving intravenous methylprednisolone. Because hospitalization charges are approximately 10 times greater for intravenous methylprednisolone compared with oral prednisone, the use of oral prednisone to treat inpatients with acute asthma would result in substantial savings. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999;103:586-90.)

Metrics

2 Record Views
57 citations in Web of Science
82 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Allergy
Immunology
Logo image