Published ahead of print on November 16, 2006, doi:10.1164/rccm.200510-1546OC Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 175, Number 4, February 2007, 323-329 A more recent version of this article appeared on February 15, 2007
Submitted on October 2, 2005 Short Course Montelukast for Intermittent Asthma in Children: a Randomised Controlled TrialColin F Robertson1*,1 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Vic, Australia, 2 General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, 3 Women's and Children's Health, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 4 Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 5 Medical School, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 6 Merck Sharp and Dohme (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Sydney, NSW, Australia * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: colin.robertson{at}rch.org.au.
In children, intermittent asthma is the most common pattern and is responsible for the majority of exacerbations. Montelukast has a rapid onset of action and may be effective if used intermittently.
Objectives
To determine whether a short course of montelukast in children with intermittent asthma would modify the severity of an asthma episode.
Methods
Children, aged 2-14 years with intermittent asthma participated in this multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial over a 12 month period. Treatment with montelukast or placebo was initiated by parents at the onset of URTI or asthma symptoms and continued for a minimum of 7 days or until symptoms had resolved for 48 hours.
Measurements and Main Results
220 children were randomised, 107 to montelukast and 113 to placebo. There were 681 treated episodes (345 montelukast, 336 placebo) provided by 202 patients. The montelukast group had 163 unscheduled healthcare resource utilisations for asthma compared to 228 in the placebo group (AR 0.65 (95% CI 0.47-0.89). There was a non-significant reduction in specialist attendances and hospitalisations, duration of episode, or Key words: asthma, pediatric, montelukast
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