Modern approaches to the prescription of mucolytics and expectorants in the daily pediatric practice
The article presents the clinical evidence of safety and efficacy of mucolytics and expectorants in the treatment of both productive and non-productive coughs in respiratory infections in childhood in all stages of the infectious-inflammatory process. The authors set a goal to study the efficacy and safety of mucolytics and expectorants in children with respiratory infection in the pediatric practice. Materials and methods. A total of 96 children undergoing inpatient treatment for various variants of acute respiratory infection were examined. The average age of the patients was 7.6 ± 0.9 years old (from 3 to 14 years old). All patients were divided into 3 groups. Primary outcomes. Using the investigational drugs in children with various forms of acute respiratory infection made it possible to quickly reduce the intensity and frequency of cough by Day 3-5 from the onset of the disease and therapy, and transform cough into productive wet cough. The study showed rapid positive dynamics in cases, when acetylcysteine was prescribed from the first days of the disease, with a consistent cough therapy using herbal products. Both investigational drugs showed no adverse drug effects during the study. The results of the analysis brings us to the conclusion that a multimodal approach to cough treatment provides a comprehensive effect, which potentiates the treatment effect and allows us to recommend them in everyday pediatric practice as effective symptomatic agents to treat inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract. This method helps to prevent polypharmacy, minimizing the drug load on the child.