Rationale and Comments

Published guidelines recommend that corticosteroid medications not be used routinely in the management of bronchiolitis. Furthermore, additional studies in patients with other viral lower respiratory tract infections have failed to demonstrate any benefits.

Sponsoring Organizations

• Society of Hospital Medicine (Pediatric)

Sources

• Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
• American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines

Disciplines

• Infectious disease
• Pediatric
• Pulmonary medicine

References

• American Academy of Pediatrics. Diagnosis and management of bronchiolitis. Pediatrics. 2006;118(4):1774-93.
  
• Klassen TP, et al. Dexamethasone in salbutamol-treated inpatients with acute bronchiolitis: a randomized, controlled trial. J Pediatr. 199;130(2):191-6.
  
• Patel H, et al. Glucocorticoids for acute viral bronchiolitis in infants and young children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(3):CD004878.
  
• De Boeck K, et al. Respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis: a double-blind dexamethasone efficacy study. J Pediatr. 1997;131(6):919-21.
  
• Von Woensel JBM, et al. Viral lower respiratory tract infection in infants and young children, BMJ. 2003;327(7405):36-40.
  
• Panickar J, et al. Oral prednisolone for preschool children with acute virus-induced wheezing. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(4):329-38.