A 2-in-1 inhaler treatment is more effective than salbutamol for preventing asthma attacks in children aged 5 to 15 and is similarly safe, a randomised controlled trial has reported.1
A combined treatment of the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide and the fast acting bronchodilator formoterol reduced children’s asthma attacks by an average of 45% compared with the commonly used salbutamol inhaler, the study published in the Lancet found.
Experts said that the study, the first to investigate the use of a 2-in-1 inhaler as the sole reliever therapy for children aged 5 to 15, could prompt a change in clinical practice for the condition that affects around 1 in 11 children in the UK.2
The 2-in-1 inhalers are already recommended for adults and children over 12 with asthma. The combination works to both relieve and prevent symptoms.
Joint UK guidelines, updated last year, said doctors should not prescribe children newly diagnosed with …
