Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2023; 11(35): 8284-8290
Published online Dec 16, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i35.8284
Clinical analysis of 114 cases of bronchiolitis in infants
Cheng Shi, Meng-Hua Wu, An Zuo, Mi-Mi Yang, Rong-Rong Jiang
Cheng Shi, Meng-Hua Wu, An Zuo, Mi-Mi Yang, Rong-Rong Jiang, Department of Pediatrics, Tongling Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Tongling 244000, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Shi C and Wu MH contributed to study conception and design, and provision of study materials or patients; Shi C contributed to administrative support; Zuo A, Yang MM, and Jiang RR contributed to data collection and assembly; Shi C contributed to data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript writing; all authors contributed to the final approval of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013). The study was approved by Institutional Review Board of Tongling Maternal and Child Health Hospital.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: All data are provided in this study, and raw data can be obtained from the corresponding author.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Meng-Hua Wu, Doctor, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Pediatrics, Tongling Maternal and Child Health Hospital, No. 98 Yangjiashan Road, Tongguan District, Tongling 244000, Anhui Province, China. menghuawu12@163.com
Received: September 22, 2023
Peer-review started: September 22, 2023
First decision: October 9, 2023
Revised: October 12, 2023
Accepted: December 4, 2023
Article in press: December 4, 2023
Published online: December 16, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Bronchiolitis is one of the common lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children. Severe cases are accompanied by dyspnea and decreased oxygen saturation.

Research motivation

To investigate the clinical characteristics, standardized diagnosis, and treatment of bronchiolitis.

Research objectives

Comparative analysis of the use of antibiotics in bronchiolitis infants with and without bacterial infection has revealed that the use of antibiotics in the treatment of bronchiolitis is controversial. Increasing the use of antibiotics can improve the cure rate of patients, but it will prolong the length of hospital stay. It is necessary to optimize the treatment methods to reduce the length of hospital stay and financial burden of patients.

Research methods

The clinical data of 114 children with newly diagnosed bronchiolitis at the Department of Pediatrics, Tongling Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January 2019 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical features, imaging features, treatment, and other data were recorded and analyzed.

Research results

The age of onset was mostly from 1 mo to 6 mo, and the time to hospital visit was mostly from the second day to the fourth day of the course of the disease. Lung imaging studies showed increased and blurred lung texture. The main treatment was aerosol inhalation. The average hospitalization time was 7.1 ± 2.4 d, and the total cure rate was 94.7%. In patients without bacterial infection, the use of antibiotics significantly prolonged the length of hospital stay (7.8 ± 2.5 d vs 5.7 ± 1.8 d) and improved the cure rate (98.3% vs 87.9%, P < 0.05).

Research conclusions

Most of the affected infants are male and have a good prognosis. Unnecessary use of antibiotics may significantly prolong the length of hospital stay, thereby putting pressure on both patients and the hospital system.

Research perspectives

Measures should be taken to optimize the treatment methods, and shorten the treatment time and the length of hospital stay, so as to reduce the economic pressure on both patients and on the hospital system.