To Study the Efficacy of Inhaled Budesonide Vs Oral Montelukast in Control of Mild Persistant Asthma in Children between 5-18 Years of Age

INTRODUCTION Asthma guidelines in children recommend the use of inhaled budesonide and montelukast to control asthma symptoms and reduce inflammation in patients with mild persistent asthma. This study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of both. METHODOLOGY Children with mild persistent asthma, aged 5 to 18 years, were included. A prospective, controlled study design was used. Patients received either inhaled budesonide [GROUP A] or oral montelukast [GROUP B] for 90 days. Parameters included improvement in the number of asthma attacks, percentage improvement in the absolute eosinophil count, percentage predicted of normal force expiratory volume in 1 second and percentage improvement in the Peak Expiratory Flow Rate after treatment. RESULTS Significant improvement in the frequency of asthma attacks, % improvement in the AEC, FEV1 %, % improvement in the PEFR in both, group A and B were seen. More significant improvement in asthma attacks (p=0.05) and FEV1 % (p=0.002), was seen in group A whereas Oral montelukast was better in terms of % improvement in the AEC (p=0.002). CONCLUSION Inhaled Budesonide is superior to oral Montelukast in treatment of mild persistent asthma in 5 to 18 years children in terms of improvement in terms of studied parameters over 12 weeks period.