Corticosteroids in Community-acquired Pneumonia

Use of Corticosteroids in Children Hospitalized With Community-acquired Pneumonia

Status

Withdrawn

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01631916

Enrollment

Registered

2012-06-29

Start date

2015-11-30

Completion date

2017-03-31

Last updated

2016-02-29

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Community-acquired Pneumonia

Keywords

community-acquired pneumonia, children, respiratory infections

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of addition of corticosteroid therapy to antibiotics in children hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia. The hypothesis is that the use of corticosteroids decreases the length of stay in children hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia.

Detailed description

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common problem in pediatric practice. The lower respiratory tract infections, particularly pneumonia, are a frequent cause of morbidity in children and is the leading cause of mortality in developing countries. In the last 20 years, despite several research, only a small decrease in morbidity and mortality has been achieved. Corticosteroids have an immune-modulation effect, not completely elucidated. Most likely, this effect is due to down regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. We postulate that adding corticosteroids to antibiotic treatment of CAP might change the immune response and thereby reduce morbidity, leading to a decrease in patients hospital length of stay.

Interventions

DRUGcorticosteroid

Dexamethasone 0.6 mg/kg/day or Methylprednisone 1 mg/kg/day

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

2 Years to 18 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Children hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia * 2-18 years old

Exclusion criteria

* Pulmonary chronic disease (including asthma) * Immunodeficiency * Diseases wich requires corticosteroids therapy (i.e. rheumatic diseases) * Wheezing in current disease * Previous hospitalization (14 days prior to admission) * Pleural effusion on admission * Malnutrition

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Length of stay	participants will be followed for the duration of hospital stay, usually 5 days

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Length of fever	participants will be followed for the duration of hospital stay, usually 5 days
Length of oxygen use	participants will be followed for the duration of hospital stay, usually 5 days

Countries

Argentina

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026