Imad Ali Shah, Zia-ur Rehman, Abdul Khaliq.
The Efficacy of Zinc as an Adjuvant Therapy in the Treatment of Severe Pneumonia.
Ophthalmol Update Jun ;15(3):268-71.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of zinc as an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of severe pneumonia in children between 2 months to 1 years of age. Study Design: Static experimental study Place and duration of study: Department of Child Health, Khyber Teaching Hospital, from June 2013 to November 2013 Methodology: A total of 196 patients were selected and divided in two equal groups with 98 patients in each group, half of them were given standard treatment of pneumonia with zinc (group A) and the other half received only standard treatment and no zinc(group B). Lower chest wall in drawing, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation at room air was observed after 48hrs and results were documented. Results: In group A, 93% Children had no chest wall in drawing after 48hrs of treatment while in group B, 85% of children had no chest wall in drawing with a P-value of 0.004 which was statistically significant. In terms of respiratory rate, 38.3% had respiratory rate <50/min after 48hr treatment in group A, while it was 36.7% in group B with a P-value of 0.76 which was not statistically significant. Oxygen saturation was >95% in 86.7% of children in group A, compared to 77.5% in group B with p-value of 0.09. Conclusion: Our study concludes that zinc as an adjuvant is effective in clinical improvement of severe pneumonia in terms of chest wall in drawing but has no statistically significant effect in terms of decreasing the respiratory rate and improving oxygen saturation after 48hrs of treatment.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com