Resp Care
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Review Comparative Study
Guidelines for asthma management: a review and comparison of 5 current guidelines.
The first clinical practice guidelines for the assessment and management of asthma were published over 20 years ago in New Zealand and Australia. During the same period, British and Scottish groups were collaborating on a United Kingdom version of asthma guidelines. Shortly after the introduction of the New Zealand and Canadian guidelines, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the United States National Institutes of Health participated in 2 additional asthma guideline endeavors, which were published in the early 1990s. ⋯ The guidelines have similar formats. The dissemination and implementation of the early guidelines was inconsistent, and they were criticized for not being evidence-based. As the knowledge of asthma pathophysiology continues to expand, along with basic science research on asthma diagnosis, treatment, and management, as well as education of the asthma patient, it is essential that the asthma guidelines be frequently updated and based on evidence-based-medicine processes.
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Nebulizers convert solutions or suspensions into aerosols with a particle size that can be inhaled into the lower respiratory tract. There are pneumatic jet nebulizers, ultrasonic nebulizers, and mesh nebulizers. Newer nebulizer designs are breath-enhanced, breath-actuated, or have aerosol-storage bags to minimize aerosol loss during exhalation. ⋯ Many newer formulations for inhalation have been released in dry-powder inhalers, which are either unit-dose or multi-dose inhalers. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have suggested that each of these aerosol delivery devices can work equally well in patients who can use them correctly. However, many patients use these devices incorrectly, so proper patient education in their use is critical.
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Management of asthma requires attention to environmental exposures both indoors and outdoors. Americans spend most of their time indoors, where they have a greater ability to modify their environment. The indoor environment contains both pollutants (eg, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, secondhand smoke, and ozone) and allergens from furred pets, dust mites, cockroaches, rodents, and molds. ⋯ Outdoor air pollutants that impact asthma include particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide, and guidelines recommend that individuals with asthma avoid exertion outdoors when these pollutants are elevated. Outdoor allergens include tree, grass, and weed pollens, which vary in concentration by season. Recommendations to reduce exposure include staying indoors, keeping windows and doors closed, using air conditioning and perhaps high-efficiency particulate arrestor (HEPA) air filters, and thorough daily washing to remove allergens from one's person.
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Diagnostic tests can only increase or decrease the probability of the asthma diagnosis, so a thorough history is very important. In patients with asthma-like symptoms, spirometric evidence of airway obstruction plus a large bronchodilator response makes asthma much more likely. However, normal spirometry is common in patients with mild asthma who are not symptomatic at the time of testing, and patients with poorly controlled asthma may lack substantial bronchodilator response. ⋯ In patients with airway obstruction, a low diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide increases the probability of COPD and makes asthma much less likely. A high exhaled nitric oxide level makes allergic asthma more likely. Response to inhaled corticosteroids makes asthma more likely and COPD less likely.