Pediatric Bronchitis Treatment & Management

  • Author: Patrick L Carolan, MD; Chief Editor: Michael R Bye, MD   more...
 
Updated: Mar 29, 2011
 

Approach Considerations

Emergency care for acute bronchitis or exacerbation of chronic bronchitis must focus on ensuring that the child has adequate oxygenation. Outpatient care is appropriate unless bronchitis is complicated by severe underlying disease. General measures include rest, use of antipyretics, adequate hydration, and avoidance of smoke.

Proper care of any underlying disorder is of paramount importance. Consideration of asthma and adequate therapy are critical to an early response.

Febrile patients should increase oral fluid intake. Instruct the patient to rest until the fever subsides.

Resolution of symptoms, normal findings on physical examination, and normal pulmonary function test results indicate the end of the need for acute treatment. Patients in whom asthma is diagnosed will likely require ongoing therapy for that disease. Patients with defined hypogammaglobulinemia may need periodic immunoglobulin replacement treatments. These are best coordinated with the assistance of a pediatric allergy and immunology or pulmonary specialist.

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Pharmacologic Therapy

Acute bronchitis

Medical therapy generally targets symptoms and includes use of analgesics and antipyretics. Antitussives and expectorants are often prescribed but have not been demonstrated to be useful. Few data outside of the research laboratory support the efficacy of expectorants.

The prototype antitussive, codeine, has been successful in some chronic-cough and induced-cough models, but few clinical data address upper respiratory infections, and the data that are available suggest little benefit. Data show codeine is little or no better than guaifenesin or dextromethorphan.

In otherwise healthy individuals, the use of antibiotics has not demonstrated any consistent benefit in relieving symptoms or improving the natural history of acute bronchitis. Placebo-controlled studies using doxycycline, erythromycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole have failed to show significant benefit in patients with acute bronchitis.

Preliminary studies suggest a possible role for EPs 7630, an herbal drug preparation derived from Pelargonium sidoides roots, in the treatment of pediatric patients (1-18 y) with acute bronchitis outside the strict indication for antibiotics. Kamin et al demonstrated reduced bronchitis severity symptom scores in patients treated with EPs 7630, with good overall tolerability.[22, 23]

Bronchodilators have failed to demonstrate efficacy in some studies of acute bronchitis. Nevertheless, a trial of inhaled albuterol may be worthwhile, as it may provide significant relief of symptoms for some patients.

Chronic bronchitis

Bronchodilator therapy should be considered and instituted; either a beta-adrenergic agonist, such as albuterol or metaproterenol, or theophylline may be effective. Beta-adrenergic agents are less toxic, have a more rapid onset of action than theophylline, and do not require monitoring of levels. Inhaled corticosteroids may be effective.

In the child who continues to cough despite a trial of bronchodilators and in whom the history and physical examination findings suggest a wheezy form of bronchitis, oral corticosteroids should be added. If the response is suboptimal or if fever persists, antibiotic therapy with an agent such as a macrolide or beta-lactamase–resistant antimicrobial may be considered.

Antibiotics should not be the primary therapy. They usually do not result in a cure and may delay the start of more appropriate asthma therapies.

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Consultations

Referral to a pediatric pulmonologist may be helpful for patients experiencing persistent or recurrent symptoms and whose histories suggest the possibility of tracheobronchial foreign body aspiration, cystic fibrosis, immunodeficiency, or persistent asthma for which appropriate first-line symptom or controller therapies have failed.

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Complications

Complications are extremely rare and should prompt evaluation for anomalies of the respiratory tract, including immune deficiencies. Complications may include the following:

  • Bronchiectasis
  • Bronchopneumonia
  • Acute respiratory failure
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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Patrick L Carolan, MD  Adjunct Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Family Practice, and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School; Medical Director of Minnesota Sudden Infant Death Center; Attending Staff, Department of Emergency Services, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota

Patrick L Carolan, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics and International Society of SIDS Researchers

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Thomas Scanlin, MD  Chief, Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Cystic Fibrosis Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Thomas Scanlin, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Thoracic Society, Society for Pediatric Research, and Society for Pediatric Research

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Mary L Windle, PharmD  Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Charles Callahan, DO  Professor, Deputy Chief of Clinical Services, Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Charles Callahan, DO is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians, American Thoracic Society, Association of Military Surgeons of the US, and Christian Medical & Dental Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Mary E Cataletto, MD  Associate Director, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Winthrop University Hospital; Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, State University of New York at Stony Brook; Director of Children's Sleep Services, Winthrop University Hospital

Mary E Cataletto, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Chest Physicians

Disclosure: Shering Plough Pharmaceuticals Honoraria Consulting

Chief Editor

Michael R Bye, MD  Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Attending Physician, Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center

Michael R Bye, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Chest Physicians, and American Thoracic Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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Normal airway color and architecture (in a child with mild tracheomalacia).
Airway of a child with chronic bronchitis shows erythema, loss of normal architecture, and swelling.
 
 
 
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