Examples of our work

Asthma (French to English)

1. INTRODUCTION

A severe attack of asthma represents a grave medical emergency, with a danger to the vital prognosis. Treatment should be conducted in hospital⁽¹⁾.

If a satisfactory response is not obtained with beta 2-sympathomimetic drugs by inhaler, the patient should be rapidly transferred to hospital⁽¹⁾. Bronchodilators by nebuliser is the recommended form of treatment for status asthmaticus⁽¹⁾. The nebuliser delivers an effective and optimal dose of bronchodilator without requiring perfect coordination between the hand-held puffer and respiration. This is important given the context of a medical emergency in a child with severe asthma. The objective of initial hospital treatment is to counteract as soon as possible the acute bronchospasm. To achieve this, treatment comprises frequent and repeated administrations (every 20 minutes during the first hour) of beta 2-sympathomimetics by nebuliser, oxygen therapy and oral or intravenous corticosteroids. After the first hour, the rate and number of administrations of beta 2-sympathomimetics by nebuliser depend on the progress of the patient.