Comparison study: none of the 18 disposable nebulisers tested performed to PARI’s quality and standards

Disposable devices commonly used in France are not suitable alternatives for PARI nebulisers!

Those that use disposable nebulisers may find them appealing because they needn’t be cleaned and disinfected. This holds especially true in cystic fibrosis patients, who take inhaled therapy frequently. However, this population is particularly at risk for infection. A large study conducted by a group of French physicians showed that single-use products are of moderate to poor quality.

In this multi-part study, a large survey was first conducted among 49 cystic fibrosis centers to determine what nebulisers were being used most often to administer the antibiotic tobramycin. After the survey data was collected and evaluated, 18 devices were selected for comprehensive aerosol characterization testing including measurement of aerosol droplet sizes, the amount of delivered drug, the lung or respirable dose and nebulisation times.

For the most important parameter the lung dose (refer to figure) tremendous differences were found between the devices. The best performing nebuliser – the PARI LC SPRINT – delivered more than 10 times the respirable dose than the lowest performing nebulizer.

The authors’ conclusion: None of the disposable nebulisers tested were a suitable alternative to PARI devices for the administration of tobramycin.

 

PARI LC SPRINT and LC PLUS deliver more respirable droplets than 18 different disposable nebulisers. [data valid for the nebulisation of tobramycin. Source: Vecellio et al. 2010].

Source: Vecellio et al. (2010) J Cyst Fibr: epub ahead of print