How should we estimate driving pressure to measure interrupter resistance in children?

Interrupter resistance (R(int)) is a widely used measure of airway caliber, but concerns remain about repeatability and sensitivity. Some R(int) variability may derive from the linear back-extrapolation algorithm (LBE 30/70) usually used to estimate driving pressure. To investigate whether other methods of estimating driving pressure could improve repeatability and sensitivity, we studied 39 children with asthma.

Growing need.

THE INCIDENCE of paediatric respiratory disease has increased over recent years giving nurses an opportunity to grow with the specialty and become providers of high quality care. Respiratory disease can affect all ages but advances in neonatal intensive care have given rise to a group of children who have persistent respiratory disease into early life. Asthma incidence continues to rise, for example, and can affect children of any age with many attendant clinical and management problems.

How do we treat wheezing infants? Evidence or anecdote.

Consultant paediatricians were questioned about their management of wheezing disorders in infants. Salbutamol was the preferred bronchodilator for recurrent wheeze, whereas ipratropium was preferred in viral bronchiolitis. Doses of both medications varied widely.

Assessment of a low-cost home monitoring spirometer for children.

Electronic devices are now available to measure and store lung function parameters in the home. Before adopting a device for clinical or research use, it is important to validate it in the target patient group. The aim of this study was to assess a low-cost, portable, logging spirometer, the VM Plus (VM), against a standard laboratory Jaeger spirometer (JS) for use in children with respiratory disease.