| 3% hypertonic saline | 6% hypertonic saline | 0.9% normal saline | p-value | |
| Patients | 84 | 83 | 80 | |
| Coughing | 20 (23.8) | 24 (28.9) | 10 (12.5) | 0.035 |
| Bronchial obstruction | 2 (2.4) | 5 (6.0) | 3 (3.8) | # |
| Agitation | 33 (39.3) | 37 (44.6) | 23 (28.8) | 0.106 |
| Rhinorrhea | 27 (32.1) | 27 (32.5) | 26 (32.5) | 0.998 |
| Dry mucosae | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (1.3) | # |
| Resistance | 11 (13.1) | 20 (24.1) | 11 (13.8) | 0.107 |
| Vomiting | 1 (1.2) | 1 (1.2) | 1 (1.3) | # |
| Saturation dips | 1 (1.2) | 2 (2.4) | 1 (1.3) | # |
| Tachycardia >200·min−1 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (1.3) | # |
| Total adverse effects | 95 | 119 | 76 | 0.07 |
| Withdrawal because of adverse effects | 4 (4.8) | 6 (7.2) | 8 (10.0) | 0.59 |
Data are presented as n or n (%) unless otherwise stated. #: no Chi-squared test was performed because of the small numbers. Bold text means statistically significant.