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Hypertonic Saline VS Sodium Chloride
MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Jul 9, 2025 | Replies (10)Comment receiving replies
Sue, I as wondering if you have ever heard that 7% sodium chloride can scar your lungs with long term use. I had a consultation with a cardio-thoracic surgeon who preferred the use of 3%. He mentioned that 7% was useful short term if having an exacerbation. Any thoughts on this. As we all know the 7% is more effective.
Replies to "Sue, I as wondering if you have ever heard that 7% sodium chloride can scar your..."
Pamela McShane, one of the leading experts in bronchiectasis recommends 7% over 3% in her airway clearance talk. She was at Jewish Health and is at NIH now I think. I think this is correct video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch
Hypertonic has been used for a while in cystic fibrosis patients, including pediatric ones, and some older studies are from that group.
I googled (added scholarly in search) "use of hypertonic saline in noncystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. Here is a 2019 review of studies, but there are more if you want to check. This article does mention that a few patients couldn't participate due to poor tolerance of the 7% and perhaps your doc was thinking of those.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6688147/
The goal is to get the mucus out and if 3% helps you do that and you tolerate it, I'd say it's achieving the goal. If you aren't getting it out and are having exacerbations, you might consider altering your airway clearance routine, the saline being just one option. Good luck! It's all these details...
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I have not heard that. I'm not in a position to do research right now, but will put it on my list to look at.