The Effect of Nebulized Furosemide in Patients with Acute Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema: A Randomized Controlled Trial

  Furosemide is one of the elements of drug therapy for cardiogenic pulmonary edema, but its systemic administration is associated with complications, such as hypotension, renal damage, and decreased serum potassium. Inhalation administration is a new route, which does not have the side effects of systemic administration, but its effectiveness is still unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of treatment with the nebulized furosemide in patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema
Methodes: This clinical trial study was conducted on 125 patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema reffering to the Department of Emergency Medicine of Rasoul Akram and Firouzgar hospitals in 2017. The samples were randomly assigned to two groups of experimental (62 individuals receiving furosemide with nebulizer) and control (63 individuals receiving normal saline with nebulizer). After the vital Signs intervention, the data relating to the lung were compared using t-test and Chi square test. There was no difference between the two studied groups in terms of the mean changes in systolic (intervention 129, plasebo 128.9) and diastolic blood pressures (intervention 79.2, plasebo 78), pulse rate (intervention 92.2, plasebo 91.8), respiratory rate (intervention 22.8, plasebo 22.3), and blood oxygen saturation (intervention 92, plasebo 91.7). Changes in lung auscultation showed no statistically significant changes between the groups (p = 0.56). The finding of the present study revealed that inhaled furosemide had no positive effect in the patients with acute pulmonary edema. Therefore, considering the novelty of the issue, further studies are recommended.