Efficacy of montelukast combined with erythromycin in the treatment of children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of montelukast combined with erythromycin in the treatment of children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection and its effect on pulmonary function and serum stress indexes.

Methods A total of 94 children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae were selected as study objects, and were randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 47 cases in each group. The control group was given conventional drug treatment and erythromycin treatment; the observation group was given combined treatment with montelukast sodium chewable tablet based on the control group. The clinical efficacy after treatment, the disappear time of clinical symptoms, and the occurrence of adverse reactions of the two groups were observed. The changes of pulmonary function indexesforced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁), peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced vital capacity (FVC), serum stress indexestumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP) before and after treatment in the two groups were observed.

Results The total effective rate in the observation group was higher than that of the control group (97.87% versus 89.36%, P>0.05). The total remarked rate of the observation group was higher than that of control group, and the difference was statistically significant (76.60% versus 55.32%, P < 0.05). The disappearance time of fever, cough and lung rale in the observation group was (3.21±0.75) d, (6.77±1.52) d and (4.57±1.19) d, which were shorter than (3.68±0.81) d, (8.02±1.88) d and (5.38±1.36) d, respectively in the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the levels of FEV₁, PEF and FVC in two groups were higher than before treatment, and their levels in the observation group were higher than control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and CRP in two groups were lower than before treatment, and their levels in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The adverse reaction rate in the observation group was slightly lower than that in the control group, but no significant differences were observed (12.77% versus 17.02%, P>0.05).

Conclusion Montelukast combined with erythromycin in the treatment of children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection has better clinical efficacy than erythromycin alone, and can significantly shorten the disappearance time of fever, cough and other symptoms in children, and significantly improve the level of lung function indexes and serum stress indexes in the body.