Year
2017
Journal
British Medical Journal
DOI #
Pub Med #
Abstract
Key Messages
- Bronchiolitis admissions have increased substantially over the past 30 years, without a concomitant change in disease severity or mortality
- The increase in admission rates for bronchiolitis coincides with the increased widespread use of pulse oximetry in the 1980s
- Hypoxaemia may be a main driver for decisions to admit children with bronchiolitis, evidence shows
- Overdiagnosis of hypoxaemia may be at least partially responsible for increased admission rates of children with bronchiolitis, recent evidence shows
- Lower thresholds for oxygen concentration to determine treatment may be associated with better outcomes such as decreased length of stay, with no demonstrated evidence of adverse outcomes