Abstract

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether delivery of bronchodilators to children was better by spacer device or nebuliser. 1456 papers were found using the reported searches, of which four presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that in most cases where a child presents with moderate to severe asthma beta-2-agonists could be delivered via a spacer device in place of a nebuliser.

Clinical scenario

A seven year old child with a known history of asthma presents with a 24 hour history of exacerbation of wheeze. He has been using his salbutamol inhaler with little benefit. You prescribe a ß-agonist by nebuliser but wonder if it …