A comparison of salbutamol given by pressure-packed aerosol or nebulization via IPPB in acute asthma.

Salbutamol was given by pressure-packed aerosol or nebulizer via IPPB to patients with acute asthma to compare the effectiveness of these methods of inhalation. The results show that both methods produce significant bronchodilatation even in patients admitted with moderately severe asthma (FEV1 about 38% predicted) but a slightly greater improvement may be achieved by IPPB nebulization. Our findings indicate that supervised inhalation of a pressure-packed aerosol of salbutamol may be useful for the initial treatment of asthmatic attacks but confirm the marginal advantage of IPPB nebulization, which should be reserved for patients unable to inhale from a pressure-packed aerosol or failing to respond to its treatment.