What they did

Wu and colleagues performed a RCT over 3 consecutive bronchiolitis seasons and recruited a convenience sample of patients <24 months old with bronchiolitis. from March 1, 2008, through April 30, 2011. 211 patients were randomized to HTS and 197 to saline. They received each treatment up to 3 times. All patients were premedicated with albuterol. The main outcome was hospital admission. Additional outcomes included length of stay for admitted patients, and Respiratory Distress Assessment Instrument score.

The authors reported that the HTS group had lower odds of admission. HTS was 28.9% compared with 42.6% in the NS group (aOR=0.49 [95% CI, 0.28-0.86])

There was no significant difference in the respiratory distress score in either group

Length of stay was marginally shorter for HTS but not significant

Meanwhile Florin et al performed a RCT comparing HTS versus normal saline. 62 patients between 2 and 24 months of age (31 in each arm) with their first episode of bronchiolitis were randomized to placebo or HTS, with the primary outcome being respiratory distress at 1 hour after administration. The included patients were enrolled after they had been suctioned and received albuterol and were determined to still have respiratory distress. They also assessed vital signs, oxygen saturation, hospitalization, physician clinical impression, parental assessment, and adverse events.