Background and Aim: Magnesium is required for a wide variety of cellular activities.In this study we follow the effect of intravenous Magnesium Sulfate used for the treatment of acute asthma.
Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, which was undertaken in the emergency ward of Vali-e Assre Hospital under BUMS, 37 Patients with acute asthma and Fischle Severity Score (FSS) ≥ 4 at arrival were enrolled. All the patients received 2 puffs of salbutamol spray, 300mg of IV hydrocortisone and 5 lit/min nasal O2. After informed consent of the subjects to an additional treatment, they were randomly divided into two groups namely "case" and "control". The "case" was treated by 1.2 g intravenous magnesium sulfate and the "control" received placebo. After the administration, FSS was determined at 20, 40, and 60 minute intervals. The obtained data were analyzed employing statistical tests, i-e T-test, Chi-Square, and Wilcoxon
rank-sum test at the significant level P≤0.05.
Results: The 37 patients were randomly grouped into 19 (cases) and 18 (control). The mean Mg serum level was 2.19±0.50mg/dl in the cases and 2.23±0.51mg/dl in the controls (P>0.05). FSS before and after 1-hour treatment dropped from 4.84±0.76 to 4.39±0.53 in the cases but it decreased from 4.6±0.52 to 3.7±0.56 in the control group. Statistic analysis showed the reduction in FSS in the cases and controls; 1.39±0.64 and 0.67±0.32, respectively (P<0.05). The therapeutic response time of 26.3% of the cases was 20 minutes compared to 0% of control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Administration of 1.2 g of IV magnesium sulfate accelerates the improvement of the clinical symptoms when used as an adjunct to standard therapy in patients with severe, acute asthma.