USA: Results from a small feasibility study show oscillometry to be safe and responsive in children presenting to the emergency department (ED) with acute asthma exacerbations. The results are published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
Emergency department treatment is variable, leading to prolonged ED length of stay, inefficient use of asthma therapies, and unnecessary hospitalizations.
Nidhya Navanandan, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, and associates collected vital signs, Pulmonary Asthma Score, and respiratory impedance by oscillometry in children aged 4 to 18 years who were presented to an urban tertiary care children's hospital emergency department for an acute asthma exacerbation.
Oscillometry was performed 3 times: prior to receiving treatment, after completion of initial therapies, and 2 hours post initial therapy. 20 children were included in the study; the average age was 9.3 years, 50% were boys, and 30% were identified as African American.
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Key findings of the study include:
There was an average of 31.0 minutes from time of emergency department triage to initial oscillometry assessment, 50.5 between measurements 1 and 2, and 118.3 minutes between measurements 2 and 3.
A total of 75% of the participants were able to successfully complete the initial oscillometry assessment.
In the remaining 5 patients, 2 were unable to perform because of the severity of exacerbations, and 3 did not have acceptable measurements.
"Oscillometry may be a valuable bedside measure of lung function to direct [emergency department] treatment and disposition decisions and reduce the clinical morbidity associated with asthma," concluded the authors.
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The study, "Oscillometry for acute asthma in the pediatric emergency department: A feasibility study," is published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2020.07.002