Abstract
Objective: To compare montelukast and ketotifen sodium in management of childhood asthma in Muzzafrabad, Pakistan.
Methodology: This randomized controlled trial of 6months duration from 15th May to 30th November 2017 was carried out at Pediatrics department of combined military hospital Muzaffarabad. It included 60 cases and were randomly divided into 2 groups; Group A was given Ketotifen 1mg once a day orally and Group B was given Montelukast sodium 5mg once a day orally at nighttime. Outcome was determined at 3rd month after treatment in terms of recurrence of severity of asthma using asthma severity score.
Results: Mean age was 8.58±3.27 years in all cases, while mean age in group-A and group-B was 8.93±3.18 years and 8.23±3.37 years. Overall, there were 36(60%) male and 24(40%) female cases while in group-A there were 22(73.3%) male and 8(26.7%) female cases and in group-B there were 14(46.7%) male and 16(53.3%) female cases. Mean severity in both groups before treatment was same (p=0.111). Mean Asthma severity score before treatment in group-A and group-B was 11.37±2.57 and 10.10±3.44, respectively. Mean Asthma score after treatment in group-A was higher (3.60±1.25) than group-B (2.10±0.92) (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Montelukast sodium 5mg once a day orally at night time was more effective to reduce the severity of asthma at even at 3rd month of treatment as compared to Ketotifen 1mg once a day orally. By utilizing the therapeutic efficacy of Montelukast sodium 5mg we can overcome the severity of bronchial asthma and can improve patient’s quality of life.

Key words: Montelukast, ketotifen, pediatric asthma.