Recognising and managing an acute asthma attack

Abstract

Asthma is a potentially life-threatening condition, characterised by a reversible narrowing of the airways. It affects 1 in 10 children in the UK. During exacerbations, it is difficult for the child to breathe and get enough oxygen into their blood. There is a huge variance in the severity of an attack. Some can be managed in the community while others are potentially fatal and need urgent transfer to hospital. For that reason, criteria have been created to categorise attacks as mild, moderate, severe or life threatening. Initially, an asthma attack should be treated using inhaled salbutamol; however, if the patient does not respond or has severe or life-threatening asthma, they need urgent transfer to hospital.