A randomised trial of hypertonic saline during hospitalisation for exacerbation of XXXX .

@entity1 @entity384 @entity19102 @entity4372 @entity1867 @entity1577
BACKGROUND: The mucoactive effects of hypertonic saline should promote exacerbation resolution in @entity1 with @entity1577 ( @entity1577 ). OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of hypertonic saline inhalation during hospitalisation for exacerbation of @entity1577 on length of stay, lung function, symptoms, oxygenation, exercise tolerance, quality of life, bacterial load and time to next hospitalisation. METHODS: 132 adults with an exacerbation of @entity1577 were randomised to inhale three nebulised doses a day of either 4   @entity19102 % saline or a taste-masked control of 0.12% saline, throughout the hospital admission. The primary outcome measure was length of hospital stay. RESULTS: All @entity1 tolerated their allocated saline solution. There was no significant difference in length of stay, which was 12   days in the hypertonic saline group and 13   days in controls, with a @entity1867 ( @entity1867 ) of 1   day (95% CI 0 to 2). The likelihood of regaining pre-exacerbation FEV1 by discharge was significantly higher in the hypertonic saline group (75% vs 57%), and the number needed to treat was 6 (95% CI 3 to 65). On a 0-100 scale, the hypertonic saline group had significantly greater reduction in symptom severity than the control group at discharge in sleep ( @entity1867 =13, 95% CI 4 to 23), @entity384 ( @entity1867 =10, 95% CI 3 to 18) and dyspnoea ( @entity1867 =8, 95% CI 1 to 16). No significant difference in time to next hospitalisation for a pulmonary exacerbation was detected between groups (HR=0.86 (CI 0.57 to 1.30), p=0.13). Other outcomes did not significantly differ. CONCLUSIONS: Addition of hypertonic saline to the management of a @entity1577 exacerbation did not reduce the length of hospital stay. @entity4372 saline speeds the resolution of exacerbation symptoms and allows @entity1 to leave hospital with greater symptom resolution. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12605000780651.
