Efficacy of Aminophylline in the Treatment of Acute Asthma Exacerbation in Children

Efficacy and safety of intravenous theophylline administration for treatment of mild acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma

“…22 Some studies have reported no particular therapeutic effect of adding theophylline to b 2agonist inhalation during an asthma exacerbation. 5 Patients were not restricted in their use of rescue SABA before the IAT treatment in the present study, and the PEF of those patients using SABA improved significantly. The lag phase of at least 3 h between SABA use and IAT suggested that the improvement in pulmonary function and symptoms was caused predominantly by the theophylline injection.…”

“…There has been controversy concerning the efficacy of using an aminophylline infusion to treat acute asthma 22 . Some studies have reported no particular therapeutic effect of adding theophylline to β 2 ‐agonist inhalation during an asthma exacerbation 5 . Patients were not restricted in their use of rescue SABA before the IAT treatment in the present study, and the PEF of those patients using SABA improved significantly.…”

“…The Japanese Asthma Prevention: Management Guidelines 6 recommend intravenous aminophylline injection as an alternative treatment to β 2 ‐agonist inhalant when the latter is not adequately effective. Unlike theophylline with its low solubility, aminophylline has mostly been used as an injectable treatment and there have been various reports on its efficacy 1–5 . However, aminophylline is a mixture of ethylenediamine sodium and theophylline, and allergic reactions to the ethylenediamine component, including urticaria and dyspnoea, have been reported 7–10 .…”

“…Unlike theophylline with its low solubility, aminophylline has mostly been used as an injectable treatment and there have been various reports on its efficacy. [1][2][3][4][5] However, aminophylline is a mixture of ethylenediamine sodium and theophylline, and allergic reactions to the ethylenediamine component, including urticaria and dyspnoea, have been reported. [7][8][9][10] Intravenously administered theophylline (IAT) was developed in 2000.…”

Adjunct Therapies for Refractory Status Asthmaticus in Children

“…However, randomized trials of intravenous aminophylline or theophylline as an adjunct to albuterol and steroids for status asthmaticus completed in the early 1990s repeatedly failed to show a benefit of this therapy, for both measures of pulmonary function and secondary outcomes, such as length of hospital stay. [31][32][33][34][35][36] Several of these studies also reported increased adverse effects, most commonly nausea and restlessness (including insomnia and tremor). In a 2001 randomized trial, Ream et al 37 demonstrated an advantage in the aminophylline cohort for improvement of clinical asthma scores in children admitted to the pediatric ICU who were also receiving corticosteroids, inhaled albuterol, and ipratropium but failed to show a difference in ICU stay compared with those therapies without aminophylline; these findings were later supported by a 2005 Cochrane review.…”