Dados do Trabalho

Título

Continuous infusion of magnesium sulfate to treat acute severe asthma in pediatric emergency: search for side effects

Objetivo

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential side effects of intravenous magnesium sulfate by assessing axillary temperature, oxygen saturation, cardiac frequency, respiratory rate and blood pressure.

Métodos

This case series was conducted from May 2022 to May 2023, in a pediatric emergency service,in the public tertiary hospital located in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The study included children over 3 years old with severe acute asthma unresponsive to initial therapies. These patients received a continuous infusion of 50 mg/kg/h dose of magnesium sulfate over a 6-hour period.

Resultados

In this study, 42 patients were included, being 57.1% males. The patients had a mean age of 5.7 years. The intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate for 6 hours resulted in no reported side effects by measuring blood pressure, cardiac frequency and respiratory rate. We observed a significant clinical improvement in 30 patients (72%), as assessed by variations in the clinical score (Wood- Downes), with a reduction of at least 1 point. The mean magnesium serum level was 4.7 mg/dl. Pneumonia and viral infection associated with asthma did not predict response to treatment. The average length of stay in the pediatric emergency department was 2 days, with no deaths or need for intensive care or ventilatory support.

Conclusão

The study demonstrated that intravenous magnesium sulfate infusion could be a safe adjunctive therapy for the management of severe acute asthma in children. The absence of side effects observed and the improvement in respiratory status suggest that continuous magnesium can be an effective treatment option.