As drug particles tend to settle on the walls of the holding chamber it is important not to wait before inhaling. However, this may not always be possible when administering inhaled drugs to young children.

NebuChamber^® is relatively unaffected by delays in emptying in contrast to Nebuhaler^®. In one study (Berg et al,2001), drug output from the holding chamber was collected with delays of 0, 5 and 15 s between actuation of the pMDI and the start of collection. With Pulmicort^® pMDI plus NebuChamber the median output only decreased from 49% when collection was started at the same time as actuation to 32% with a 15s delay.

Reference

Berg E, et al. Impact of inspiratory delay and valved holding chamber (VHC) material on drug delivery. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2001;163(suppl 2):A441.