How to prevent relapse after acute exacerbation of asthma?

Abstract

It is well known that most patients survive an acute ex-acerbation of asthma. This observation is in keeping with the natural tendency of acute asthma to resolve, providing treat-ment is prompt. Actually, for the majority of patients with an asthma exacerbation, management in the community or emergency department (ED) is adequate. Nonetheless, pa-tients released from the ED after an acute exacerbation can relapse after discharge. The systematic review of randomized controlled trials published by Rowe et al. [1] strongly supports the use of oral or intramuscular (IM) corticosteroids (CSs) for treatment of outpatients released from the acute care setting with an exacerbation of asthma. Apparently, a short course of CSs following assessment for an asthma exacerbation sig-nificantly reduces the number of relapses to additional care, hospitalizations and use of short-acting