To investigate the therapeutic effect of rock salt aerosol on pneumoconiosis in elderly patients.

104 elderly patients with pneumoconiosis admitted to Yulin Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from June 2018 to June 2020 were selected. The control group (52 cases) received conventional treatment, and the observation group (52 cases) received combined treatment with halite aerosol on the basis of the control group. After 60 days of treatment, the clinical efficacy, pulmonary function and inflammatory factor levels of the two groups were compared. T test was used to compare the measurement data between groups, and χ² test was used for comparison of enumeration data.

Compared with before treatment, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) in the two groups were significantly improved after treatment (t=13.582, 21.153, 3.101, 6.243, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in FEV1 and FVC between the two groups before treatment (t=1.340, 0.180, P > 0.05), but FEV1 and FVC in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group after treatment (t=5.980, 2.619, P < 0.05). The total effective rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (96.15%, 84.61%; χ²=3.983, P < 0.05). Compared with before treatment, the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α in the two groups were significantly decreased after treatment (t=15.782, 8.142, 6.636, 3.625, 6.137, 2.176, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α between the two groups before treatment (t=0.837, 0.397, 0.274, P > 0.05). After treatment, the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (t=6.332, 2.382, 3.213, P < 0.05).

Halite aerosol is effective in the treatment of pneumoconiosis in elderly patients, which can improve the pulmonary function and reduce the level of inflammatory factors