Tactics of expectorant medicine use in pediatric practice

Abstract

Introduction. Cough is one of the most frequent complaint when contacting a pediatrician. One of the mechanisms of cough development is the formation of viscous difficult-to-separate sputum. Therefore, determining the tactics of using expectorants and choosing the most effective and safe drug is an important part of the pediatrician’s work.Аim. Тo study the tactics of expectorant medicines use in pediatric practice.Materials and methods. The study included 84 patients with acute respiratory viral infections accompanied by cough, including 36 (42.85%) girls and 48 (57.15%) boys. The age of the children ranged from 4 to 7 years and averaged 5.57 ± 0.88 years. The drug of herbal syrups based on ivy extract in the form of syrup was prescribed to children in a dosage of 2.5 ml 4 times a day for 7 days. The effectiveness of the drug was evaluated on a scale of improvement/worsening of cough symptoms. In addition, the frequency of coughing, the ease of sputum discharge and the well-being of patients according to VAS were evaluated. The safety of the drug was assessed by identifying signs of the development of adverse events. Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using the SPSS 12.0 program.Results and discussion. After 7 days of the medicine using, a significant decrease in the frequency and severity of cough was recorded, as well as relief of sputum discharge in most children. 84.52% of children had no cough after the first week of therapy. In this regard, their well-being has significantly improved. No adverse events were detected during the use of the drug. Very few herbal medicinal products are manufactured for young children, whereas it is herbal therapy that is the most suitable for use at this age. The study of the effects of herbal medicinal products containing ivy leaf extracts approved for use in children from birth showed promising results.Conclusions. The use of the drug of herbal syrups based on ivy extract in preschool children contributes to a significant reduction in the frequency of cough, relief of sputum discharge and improvement of patients’ well-being. The drug is safe – there were no adverse events during its use.