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Therapeutic action
- Short-acting bronchodilator
Indications
- Symptomatic treatment of severe acute bronchospasm, e.g. in severe acute asthma attack
Forms and strengths
- Solution for inhalation, in unit dose vial of 5 mg in 2.5 ml (2 mg/ml), to be administered via a nebuliser
Dosage and duration
- Child under 5 years or under 15 kg: 2.5 mg (1.25 ml) per nebulisation, to be repeated every 20 to 30 minutes if necessary
- Child 5 years and over and adult: 2.5 to 5 mg (1.25 to 2.5 ml) per nebulisation, to be repeated every 20 to 30 minutes if necessary
Contra-indications, adverse effects, precautions
- May cause: headache, tremor, tachycardia, hyperglycaemia; hypokalaemia (after large doses).
- Never use nebuliser solution by the parenteral route.
- Pregnancy: no contra-indication
- Breast-feeding: no contra-indication
Remarks
- Nebulised salbutamol should be reserved for severe acute asthma attacks. Otherwise, salbutamol should be delivered via a metered-dose inhaler with a spacer: administration is easier and faster, the treatment is as effective, or even more effective, than with a nebuliser and causes fewer adverse effects.
- Volumes of nebuliser solution to be administered are insufficient to obtain efficient nebulisation in most nebulisers: dilute salbutamol solution with 0.9% sodium chloride to obtain a total volume of 4 ml in the reservoir of the nebuliser. Stop the nebulisation when the reservoir is empty (± 10-15 minutes).
Storage
- Below 25 °C