Effectiveness of Antipyretic with Tepid Sponging Versus Antipyretic Alone in Febrile Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Introduction: Fever is the most common presenting complain for which children are brought to the paediatrician.Physical methods are widely used in treating febrile children, tepid sponging being commonly practiced in hospitals along with antipyretics. The objectives of this study were to compare the effectiveness of tepid sponging and antipyretic drug versus antipyretic drug alone in febrile children.Material and Methods: This was a Randomized controlled trial done in JSS Medical College and Hospital. All children under the age of 6 months to 12 years, admitted with axillary temperature of >99oF were included in the study. A total of 500 children were included over two years study period. Children with recorded axillary temperature of >990F were randomized into control and study group by computer generated randomisation. Children in the control group received only paracetamol (15mg/kg) at 5 minutes and combined group received paracetamol and tepid sponging at five minutes. Axillary temperature was monitored every 15 minutes for a period of 2 hours in both the groups.Results: There is no significant difference in reduction of temperature between the two groups by the end of two hours. Children in combined group had a higher level of discomfort than those in only antipyretic group.Conclusion: Tepid sponging does not add to the efficacy of paracetamol in antipyresis and that addition of tepid sponging to antipyretic, results in additional discomfort for the child. This study, therefore, endorses the view that antipyretic alone without tepid sponging should be the modality of therapy in children with fever.

Effectiveness of Tepid Sponging along with Antipyretic Drug versus Only Antipyretic Drug in the Management of Fever among Children – A Randomized Control Trial

“…The proportion of afebrile kids in the two groups also followed a similar pattern [9]. The Sponging Study Group, situated in the United States of America, conducted a study that came to the conclusion that sponging had little to no effect on fever decrease after 30 minutes [10].…”

Tepid Sponging And Compress Plaster On Toddlers Who Have A Fever

“…The action of reducing fever in toddlers by means of sponging and comparing with antipyretics has been widely studied by experts (Akyirem & Bossman, 2021;Alves et al, 2008;Chetak et al, 2017;Iqomh et al, 2019;Thomas et al, 2019Thomas et al, ). ., 2009 and the use of compress plasters have also been widely studied (Hastuti et al, 2021;Mariana S.Wowor, 2017) but research comparing the two methods is still lacking.…”

“…WHO has recommended parastamol ( acetaminophen ) as a fever treatment in children if non-pharmacological treatment only lowers body temperature but not to normal limits or 37.5 0 C can be given fever-reducing drugs and drug administration can be started when the temperature reaches 38 0C. C. This has been proven by research conducted by (Chetak et al, 2017) which showed that the administration of antipyretics and the tepid sponging method could lower body temperature faster than using antipyretics alone.…”