Acute exacerbation of asthma in adults

Abstract

Acute asthma remains an important cause of morbidity in adults. The recognition, assessment and appropriate management of acute asthma are essential to avoid unnecessary morbidity and also mortality, which unfortunately still occurs. This article will present an overview of the hospital management of acute asthma exacerbations in adults. The British Thoracic Society(BTS) in conjunction with the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network(SIGN) published the latest British Guidelines on all aspects of asthma management in February of this year. This article is a précis of these latest British guidelines as they relate to acute asthma in adults.