Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
CJEM. 2001 Jul;3(3):209-12. doi: 10.1017/s1481803500005571.
Humidification is a time-honoured therapy for childhood croup (acute laryngotracheobronchitis). Despite a paucity of evidence supporting its use, many physicians, nurses and parents still apply this treatment. Our objective was to summarize available evidence and assess the rationale for the ongoing use of humidity to treat childhood croup.
Searches of both MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database were conducted for English-language original or review literature on the treatment of croup with humidity, for the years 1966-1999.
Only 2 published studies have attempted to evaluate humidification therapy for croup, and none has been published since 1984. There is no published evidence to support the commonly held empirical view that humidity helps alleviate the symptoms of childhood croup, and no understanding of which factors of moisture or temperature affect patient outcomes. Risks may include scalding and unnecessary discomfort.
There is no strong evidence supporting the use of humidity in the treatment of croup. Although such treatment is still widely used, it is not without risk, and further trials are required to address its efficacy.
湿化疗法是治疗儿童急性声门下喉气管支气管炎（哮吼）的传统方法。尽管缺乏支持其应用的证据，但许多医生、护士和家长仍在使用这种治疗方法。我们的目的是总结现有证据，并评估持续使用湿度治疗儿童哮吼的合理性。
对 MEDLINE 和 Cochrane 数据库进行了检索，以查找 1966 年至 1999 年间关于湿度治疗哮吼的英文原始文献或综述文献。
仅有 2 项已发表的研究尝试评估湿化疗法治疗哮吼的效果，且自 1984 年以来尚无新的研究发表。没有发表的证据支持湿化疗法有助于缓解儿童哮吼症状的普遍经验观点，也不了解湿度和温度的哪些因素会影响患者的结局。风险可能包括烫伤和不必要的不适。
没有强有力的证据支持在哮吼治疗中使用湿度。尽管这种治疗方法仍被广泛应用，但它并非没有风险，需要进一步的试验来确定其疗效。
