Intravenous Meds Improve Kids'Asthma Episodes

An intravenous infusion of magnesium sulphate along with conventional medications gives an additional benefit for children whorequire an emergency room visit because of a severe asthma attack. Looking at clinical trials involving 182 children, researchers inHong Kong analyzed the effects of intravenous magnesium sulphate with or without inhaled beta-2-agonist bronchodilators and oralsteroid drugs.

The goal of the study was to determine if the treatment prevented the children from being hospitalized. The researchers also sawa major improvement with magnesium treatment in short-term lung function tests and symptom scores. "Intravenous magnesium sulphateis likely to be effective in avoiding hospitalization and improving bronchoconstriction and clinical symptoms of moderate-tosevereacute asthma in children, when added to standard therapies of inhaled bronchodilators and systemic steroids,"concluded theresearchers in the Archives of Disease in Childhood (January 2005).