Uncontrolled Asthma: Symptoms Frequently Continue After ER Visit
Emergency Room patients treated for severe asthma often continue to have poorly controlled symptoms as much as one month afterward, according to new research published in a recent issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
This most recent study included 225 adults who visited 1 of 6 Illinois Emergency Rooms during an acute asthma attack. Researchers determined that most of those patients patients suffered persistent symptoms as much as one month after their ER visit and that only 50% of those patients used inhaled drugs to help prevent asthma attacks. Furthermore, most of those patients (86%) reported having persistent asthma symptoms in the month prior to their ER visits.
The findings suggest that emergency care for asthma should be improved, and that the ER is no substitute for close management of asthma by a primary care physician. In the ER, researchers note, asthma attacks are usually treated with oral corticosteroid medication -- a short- term solution. Unless patients follow up with a physician later to help get their asthma under better control, their symptoms will likely worsen again once they stop taking oral drugs.
Authors of the study suggest that emergency physicians could also do more to encourage asthma patients to see their regular care provider as soon as possible after their health is stabilized in the ER.
Researchers note that to better manage their asthma, most patients in this study needed either to use their current medications better, needed more medication, or needed to work better at avoiding allergens.
Previously on the DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we have posted articles related to:
- Concern among physicians that many uninsured asthmatic children go untreated
- A decision to allow DC school children to carry asthma inhalers
- A study indicating that antibiotic treatment for infants may contribute to asthma
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