title: Immediate management of acute severe asthma in adults.
abstract: Asthma is a disease with an increasingly high incidence in the UK, tragically accounting for almost 2000 UK deaths per year (Jones and Morris, 1997). Acute severe asthma is potentially life-threatening, necessitating immediate assessment and management. This article covers the main types of asthma, the pathophysiology of asthma, and the principles and rationale for the immediate management of adults admitted to the accident and emergency department suffering from an acute severe asthma attack. The authors have used the British Thoracic Society (BTS, 1997) guidelines on the management of asthma as the basis for their advice.
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham School of Nursing, Grantham Centre, Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cruickshank
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lumley
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D016529:Emergency Nursing / Q000379:methods; D004638:Emergency Treatment / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index