Spacer device with face mask attachment for giving bronchodilators to infants with asthma

Abstract

About two fifths of wheezy infants respond to nebulised ipratropium bromide with dramatic improvement in clinical signs and lung function within 15 minutes. Over the past two years we used a disposable coffee cup as a spacer device when administrering ipratropium bromide aerosol to young children. Most children aged under 18 months, however, disliked the jet of aerosol hitting their face, and compliance was poor. We adapted a spacer device for a metered dose inhaler (Nebuhaler) by adding a face mask, allowing children of all ages to be given the aerosol.