Life-Threatening Asthma

Acute severe asthma is a life-threatening condition that, in the majority of cases, has a slow onset and is preventable with early and appropri- ate treatment. For those who present to hospital, corticosteroids and nebulised β2-agonists and ipratropium bromide should be administered according to published guidelines. Patients who fail to respond to first-line treatment should be assessed by the intensive care team and placed in an environment where tracheal intubation can be rapidly and safely performed. The object of inten- sive care management of the critically ill asthma patient is to buy time for medical therapy to work whilst causing minimal harm.