Starship Hospital’s Clinical Guidelines define bronchiolitis as ‘A viral lower respiratory infection which affects children, usually under 12 months of age, with younger infants often more severely affected’ The literal translation of bronchiolitis is ‘ inflammation of the bronchioles’.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most common causes of bronchiolitis, though other respiratory virus’s, such as parainfluenza and adenovirus, can also lead to the infection. It is the most common reason for children under twelve months to be admitted to hospital and is a leading cause of morbidity in this age group.

Children presenting with bronchiolitis may have a fever. They often have a cough and sometimes an audible wheeze or ‘crackles’ on auscultation of the chest. Signs of respiratory distress/work of breathing, such as tracheal tug, nasal flaring, recession and head bobbing in infants are usually present. Vital signs will show tachypnoea, tachycardia and on occasion, hypoxia. Due to the thick secretions associated with bronchiolitis babies may have difficulty feeding. Secretions block the nares making breast and bottle feeding difficult. Babies struggle to breath and feed at the same time and can tire quickly.

The natural course of the illness lasts for seven to ten days, with symptoms worsening on days three and four. The duration of illness is important when assessing severity of illness and the potential for children to become sicker. If you have a sick looking baby on day one or two, then it is likely that they will worsen over the course of the following days.

Assessing Severity

The Starship guidelines have produced the below table to aid clinicians in severity assessment:

The Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital have the below table in their guidelines:

Treatment

Bronchiolitis is caused by a virus and therefore does not respond to antibiotics. Salbutamol has shown to be ineffective in alleviating wheezing. The mainstay of bronchiolitis treatment is the management of symptoms. Minimal handling and a calm, quiet environment has been a long recommended strategy. The more the child becomes distressed, the more they experience respiratory problems.

Normal saline drops to the nares helps loosen secretions to allow feeding. Occasional nasal suctioning may be required. Babies who have severe difficulty feeding may require nasogastric (NG) feeding, either by continuous feed or by bolus feeding. This is often preferable to intraventricular (IVT), as babies still feel hungry and may caused further distress. Of note, frequent small feeds are often preferred over large feeds (either oral or NG) as a distended abdomen can also put pressure on immature lungs and increase respiratory distress.

Nebulised three per cent hypertonic saline is occasionally used. The theory is that this delivery mode will loosen secretions and aid air entry. Although used fairly widely there has been limited evidence for this treatment’s effectiveness. A recent Cochrane review however, did note that hypertonic has been shown to reduce the length of a hospital stay in some infants. Specialised solution should be made up by a pharmacy department.

High flow nasal oxygen is also an emerging treatment in infants with bronchiolitis. This method is used to provide positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and avoid nasal irritation often caused by ‘dry’ oxygen alone. Occasionally administered in the emergency department, it appears to provide relief to infants, and once the nasal cannulas are tolerated, babies seem to settle well. A large prospective randomised control trial is currently underway in Australasia looking at the use of high flow on infants with bronchiolitis.

Conclusion

Bronchiolitis is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation of children under twelve months of age. Knowing how to recognise the severity of infection and manage its symptoms will help nurses to provide the best patient care, particularly in the coming winter months, when the illness is most prevalent.