Abstract
Although the combination of nebulized sodium cromoglycate (SCG) and beta2-agonists has been reported as an effective treatment for children with moderate to severe asthma, there has been concern that regular use of beta2-agonists might worsen asthma itself. Therefore, we evaluated if the combination therapy with SCG and beta2-agonists is more useful for the treatment of milder asthma compared with SCG alone. Young children aged 0 to 8 year-old with mild to moderate persistent asthma were randomly divided into the following groups; SCG alone and the mixture of SCG and one of beta2-agonists, procaterol. Children inhaled these medications by a jet nebulizer twice a day for 24 weeks. The asthma symptom scores of the combination treatment group significantly decreased after 4-week treatment, whereas in the single treatment group a significant difference was found only after 8-week treatment. After 12-week treatment, there was no difference in the symptom scores between two groups. No patients reported adverse effects, and the combination therapy did not show any deterioration of their asthma symptoms during 24-week period. From these results, we concluded that the combination of nebulized SCG and procaterol is effective and safe in the long-term treatment of children with mild to moderate asthma.
