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Epinephrine (adrenaline) compared to selective beta-2-agonist in adults or children with acute asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
- Source :
-
Thorax [Thorax] 2022 Jun; Vol. 77 (6), pp. 563-572. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Sep 30. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Background: International asthma guidelines recommend against epinephrine (adrenaline) administration in acute asthma unless associated with anaphylaxis or angio-oedema. However, administration of intramuscular epinephrine in addition to nebulised selective β <subscript>2</subscript> -agonist is recommended for acute severe or life-threatening asthma in many prehospital guidelines. We conducted a systematic review to determine the efficacy of epinephrine in comparison to selective β <subscript>2</subscript> -agonist in acute asthma.<br />Methods: We included peer-reviewed publications of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that enrolled children or adults in any healthcare setting and compared epinephrine by any route to selective β <subscript>2</subscript> -agonist by any route for an acute asthma exacerbation. The primary outcome was treatment failure, including hospitalisation, need for intubation or death.<br />Results: Thirty-eight of 1140 studies were included. Overall quality of evidence was low. Seventeen studies contributed data on 1299 participants to the meta-analysis. There was significant statistical heterogeneity, I <superscript>2</superscript> =56%. The pooled Peto's OR for treatment failure with epinephrine versus selective β <subscript>2</subscript> -agonist was 0.99 (0.75 to 1.32), p=0.95. There was strong evidence that recruitment age group was associated with different estimates of the odds of treatment failure; with studies recruiting adults-only having lower odds of treatment failure with epinephrine. It was not possible to determine whether epinephrine in addition to selective β <subscript>2</subscript> -agonist improved outcomes.<br />Conclusion: The low-quality evidence available suggests that epinephrine and selective β <subscript>2</subscript> -agonists have similar efficacy in acute asthma. There is a need for high-quality double-blind RCTs to determine whether addition of intramuscular epinephrine to inhaled or nebulised selective β <subscript>2</subscript> -agonist improves outcome.<br />Prospero Registration Number: CRD42017079472.<br />Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.<br /> (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1468-3296
- Volume :
- 77
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Thorax
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34593615
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2021-217124