Is nebulizer good for children's cough?

We will find that many children in the hospital always inhale nebulizer when they cough. Nebulizer inhalation is a common method that can quickly relieve frequent coughing and can also serve as a physical therapy. However, you need to be careful during the nebulizer inhalation process and try not to do it privately at home. You can go to the hospital and use it according to the doctor's prescription.

1. The working principle of atomization inhalation therapy:

Nebulizer therapy mainly refers to aerosol inhalation therapy, which is a treatment method in which bronchodilators, antibiotics or antifungal drugs are made into aerosols and inhaled into the airways and lungs in the form of smoke or mist through the mouth, nose or trachea, of course including tracheotomy tubes and tracheostomy tubes, so as to achieve the purpose of treating diseases or delaying symptoms. However, the most original function of atomization is to moisten phlegm and promote its absorption and excretion.

2. Indications for aerosol inhalation therapy:

2.1 After surgical endotracheal intubation or tracheotomy, the goal is to humidify the airway.

2.2 Acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, with symptoms of severe cough, thick sputum, and green-yellow color;

2.3 Acute attack of bronchial asthma (some industry insiders also believe that nebulization inhalation for asthma can cause bronchospasm and excessive humidification of sputum causing blockage).

2.4 Patients with emphysema, cor pulmonale and infection with thick sputum and difficulty expectorating, or patients with bronchospasm and breathing difficulties, or patients with bronchiectasis infection, lung abscess and other patients with thick sputum that is difficult to cough up;

3. Contraindications and side effects of nebulized inhalation therapy:

3.1 Emphysema, asthma (because the particles are too small, more fog points enter the alveoli, and the oversaturated fog liquid can cause bronchospasm and aggravate asthma symptoms)

3.2 Children and the elderly with poor expectoration ability. Nebulization that is not indicated or excessive nebulization will cause over-humidification of sputum, which exceeds the absorption capacity of the mucosa. At this time, the sputum cannot be excreted from the body in time. On the one hand, it is more conducive to the reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms and aggravates the infection. On the other hand, the sputum spreads downward along the body position, causing the infection to spread downward at the same time. Especially for children under 3 years old, the absorption capacity of the respiratory mucosa is limited and the ciliary movement is weak. Nebulizer treatment must comply with the nebulizer indications.

3.3 Patients with heart and kidney dysfunction.

4. Misunderstandings and side effects of nebulizer inhalation therapy:

Misconception 1: Inhaled drugs can reach the affected area directly, so they work faster than oral drugs and are more effective for children. The principles and indications of nebulization therapy have been discussed in the previous article, and nebulization inhalation for the treatment of lung diseases can only be called an auxiliary treatment method. Taking nebulized antibiotics as an example, we must have concerns in these aspects. First, it is difficult to assess the effective concentration of nebulized antibiotics in the lungs. If the effective concentration is not reached, it is easy to induce bacterial resistance. Second, the distribution of nebulized inhalation in the lungs is diffuse, but infection is not necessarily the case, and there may be drug sedimentation problems in non-infected areas. Third, the amount of drug inhaled during nebulization treatment is affected by multiple factors. Different medical workers, different patients, and even patients at different times may achieve different effects, which is difficult to grasp. Fourth, some drugs in nebulization treatment are directly discharged to the outside world, causing pollution to the external environment, etc. Therefore, it is extremely unscientific to simply say that the atomization effect directly targets the lesions and is more effective than oral medication.