Effects of capsaicin on sputum removal (Wu et al., 2021)

Background: Timely and effective removal of respiratory secretions is of great significance for tracheotomized patients. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of capsaicin nebulization to stimulate cough to promote early clearance of respiratory secretions in tracheotomized patients after hemorrhagic stroke.

Method: This study implemented a randomized controlled design. Sixty-three patients who were tracheotomized following a hemorrhagic stroke completed this randomized controlled trial. In the control group, 33 cases were given a routine care after tracheotomy. In the intervention group, 30 cases were given a capsaicin solution nebulization in addition to the routine care. The daily sputum output and the number of sputum suctioning were observed. The differences in sputum viscosity, cough function, and Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score (CPIS) were compared between the two groups before and after the intervention. Vital sign changes during capsaicin nebulization and suctioning were compared between the two groups in a pilot study.

Results: The daily sputum output of the capsaicin intervention group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < .05). The number of sputum suctioning of capsaicin group was less than that of the control group after intervention (p < .05). The CPIS score of the capsaicin group was lower than that of the control group (p < .05) after a 1-week intervention. Patients’ heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation during capsaicin nebulization were not statistically different from those during routine sputum suctioning (p > .05).

Conclusions: Capsaicin atomization–induced cough can effectively promote sputum excretion of hemorrhagic stroke patients undergoing tracheotomy and has a good safety profile. The Clinical Trial registration number of this study is ChiCTR2000037772 (http://www.chictr.org.cns).

Supplemental Material S1. Vital signs of patients [ M (QL, QU) ].

Wu, C., Zhang, Y., Yang, L., Shen, F., Ma, C., & Shen, M. (2021). Effect of capsaicin atomization–induced cough on sputum excretion in tracheotomized patients after hemorrhagic stroke: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00151