Treatment of exercise induced asthma
- For most patients, exercise-induced asthma is an expression of poorly controlled asthma and regular treatment including inhaled corticosteroids should be reviewed
- If exercise is a specific problem in patients taking inhaled corticosteroids who are otherwise well-controlled, consider adding one of the following therapies:
- leukotriene receptor antagonists
- long-acting beta2 agonists
- sodium cromoglicate or nedocromil sodium
- theophyllines
- Immediately prior to exercise, inhaled short-acting beta2 agonists are the drug of choice.
Notes:
- a systematic review (2) revealed that inhaled corticosteroids used for 4 weeks or more before exercise testing significantly attenuated exercise-induced bronchoconstriction
Reference:
- British Thoracic Society (BTS)/Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) 2019. British Guideline on the Management of Asthma. A national clinical guideline.
- Koh MS et al. Inhaled corticosteroids compared to placebo for prevention of exercise induced bronchoconstriction. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Jul 18;(3):CD002739.
Create an account to add page annotations
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.