Ambroxol in the Treatment of Idiopathic Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Abstract

In a double-blind multicenter study versus placebo, the therapeutic effects of ambroxol (10 mg/kg, i.v. twice daily for 7 days) were studied in an appropriately selected population with severe respiratory failure. Treatment was given to 28 neonates with birth weight ≤ 2,000 g, appropriate for gestational age with idiopathic respiratory distress of such severity as to require assisted ventilation (IMV or IPPV) within 12 h of birth. The preliminary results showed that ambroxol treatment, and not placebo, increased survival, reduced the time during which mechanical ventilation was required and improved the FiO₂/PaO₂ ratio and the biochemical indices of pulmonary maturity. This latter improvement suggests that the amelioration of the IRDS clinical picture and the reduction of ventilatory requirement might be due to an increase in pulmonary surfactant. No side effects attributable to ambroxol therapy were observed in the treated infants.

Efficacy of pulmonary surfactant combined with high-dose ambroxol hydrochloride in the treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome

“…In the present study, pulmonary function was observed in both groups after additional application of pulmonary surfactant in the treatment group, and results revealed that the symptoms in both groups were improved after treatment, but the therapeutic effect in the treatment group was more obvious. Blood gas indexes were analyzed at 2, 6 and 12 h after treatment, and it was found that the chest X-ray grade and Silverman grade were improved, which were superior in the treatment group to those in the control group, indicating that under the heat preservation, basic nutritional support and continuous positive airway pressure, the high-dose ambroxol hydrochloride and pulmonary surfactant are able to improve the NRDS symptoms, such as blood gas, pulmonary infection and respiratory distress, and the application of pulmonary surfactant based on high-dose ambroxol hydrochloride has a definite efficacy, which are consistent with research conclusions of other scholars (20,21). Therefore, it is recommended that the pulmonary surfactant combined with high-dose ambroxol hydrochloride be applied based on the basic treatment in the clinical treatment of NRDS.…”