BALTI 2: The Beta-2 Agonist Lung Injury Trial 2

Every day in UK intensive care units, around 1,300 patients with severe breathing failure will be given either the asthma drug salbutamol or a dummy solution, to see if the drug cuts the death rate from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). ARDS kills nearly half of those who develop it, and survivors often face long-term health problems. A small earlier study suggested that intravenous salbutamol, given for seven days early in the illness, might improve survival. But the evidence was too weak to change practice. This trial aims to settle the question definitively. If salbutamol proves effective, it would give intensive care doctors a cheap, widely available drug to reduce deaths from a condition that currently has few specific treatments. If it does not work, the trial will prevent hospitals from wasting time and resources on an ineffective therapy, and spare patients unnecessary side effects. Either way, the result will directly influence how ARDS is managed in ICUs across the NHS and worldwide.