Efficacy of Budesonide, Epinephrine and Salbutamol Inhalation for Treatment of Transient Tachypnea of Newborn: Prospective Controlled Study

Background: Transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN) is a neonatal lung disease which has a picture of lung edema due to delayed resorption of lung fluids. It is commonly seen in full-term or late-preterm in­fants with an occurrence rate of 5.7 in 1,000 infants. The aim of this work was to compare the efficacy of inhaled budesonide, epinephrine and salbutamol for treatment of TTN.

Methods: This prospective controlled study was conducted on a100 full term neonates with presumed diagnosis of TTN. They were randomly assigned into four groups equally. Group I received nebulized budesonide, Group I received nebulized epinephrine, Group III received nebulized salbutamol and Group IV received nebulized normal saline.

Results: Salbutamol significantly decreased respiratory rate and TTN clinical score, duration of respiratory support along with hospitalization time and helped with reaching full feeding earlier compared to other groups.

Conclusions: Inhaled salbutamol significantly decreased TTN clinical score, shorter duration of respiratory support, hospitalization and earlier initiation of enteral feeding compared to placebo. Inhaled budesonide and epinephrine did not significantly reduce the duration of oxygen treatment, with no other significant effect on TTN.