Photo: C. Fischer

Bronchiolitis is one of the most common respiratory diseases in infants and is also a major burden for parents and medical staff. There is still no conventional drug therapy for the disease, which is usually caused by viruses and is accompanied by severe coughing, shortness of breath and feeding difficulties - only supportive measures such as oxygen and fluid administration are available. In anthroposophic medicine, however, there are many years of good experience with the use of lavender oil compresses for bronchiolitis. This complementary therapeutic approach is now being tested for the first time in a clinical study funded by SAGST.

The idea came from doctors who successfully use this intervention at the anthroposophical Filderklinik near Stuttgart, among other places. Now the method is to be tested under scientific conditions. The multi-center, randomized trial is conducted at two locations in Switzerland: at the Hôpital des Enfants of the Geneva University Hospitals and at the Center for Integrative Pediatrics at the Cantonal Hospital of Fribourg. Up to 400 young patients are to be included. They will either receive standard care or standard care with the addition of lavender oil chest compresses. Not only the frequency of coughing will be measured, but also factors such as respiratory rate, oxygen requirements, crying episodes, length of hospital stay and the psychological burden on parents. The data will be analyzed according to current scientific standards.

The first qualitative results of the study are published in the current issue of the specialist journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine. To this end, 18 nursing staff were interviewed, who reported positive effects of lavender breast compresses on babies, parents and the therapeutic relationship. However, they also mentioned challenges such as time pressure in everyday clinical practice, organizational problems and specific training needs as important factors for the routine integration of the application. "Even though this is a comparatively small field of application, this study could strengthen the scientific basis of anthroposophic medicine and further establish its integrative approach," says SAGST project manager Sandra Würtenberger, emphasizing the importance of the research project.