title: Management of the surgical patient with asthma.
abstract: "Asthma is a common and chronic inflammatory condition of the airways whose cause is not completely understood. As a result of inflammation the airways are hyperresponsive and they narrow easily in response to a wide range of stimuli". There are almost 3 million asthma sufferers in the UK with up to 5% of adults and 5-10% of children having asthma. It is not surprising then that a significant number of patients who come into hospital for either elective or emergency surgery will be asthmatic.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Pearce
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000451:nursing* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D013527:Perioperative Nursing; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011300:Preoperative Care