RESULTS
Sixty three children (boys26) who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were
randomized but only 52 children (boys 21) completed the study protocol.
There were 11drop outs at different stages of the trial but the sub
analysis of the basic demographic parameters and baseline lung functions
of them showed no significant difference from the group of children who
completed the study.
Figure 1 shows the number of children in the two groups (A and B) and
the total number of participants at each stage of the study. Out of the
dropped out patients 3 patients found it difficult to attend the clinic
due to distance. Parents of two patients who were started on HS in the
initial phase were not willing to switch over to conventional (control)
arm after the washout as parents felt the clinical and lung volume
improvement of their children were good. Six children could not complete
the second phase due to an unexpected shortage of 3 % saline in the
country and had to remove from the study.
Commonest aetiology of bronchiectasis among the children enrolled was
post infective (33/63) and the rest consisted of primary immune
deficiency related conditions (6/63), congenital structural
malformations (3/63), post tuberculosis (2/63), aspiration syndromes
(3/63) and aetiology was unknown in a quarter of patients(16/63).
The mean age was 9.3±2.6 years. Table 1shows the baseline parameters of
the two groups and they did not show any difference.
TABLE 1: Baseline Characteristics of the two samples