You are called to the ER to assess a 25-year-old female patient in status asthmaticus. Her PEFR results of pre- and post-bronchodilator therapy are given below:

Pre-bronchodilator Post-bronchodilator
1st attempt 216 334
2nd attempt 224 330
3rd attempt 210 340
You should suggest to the ER physician to:
a. stop the bronchodilators.
b. repeat the PEF measurement.
c. increase the medication dosage.
d. continue current therapy.


ANS: D
When assessing PEFR results, the highest measurement pre and post should be used to calculate the percentage improvement (pre-post/pre ? 100). Any improvement of 12 percentage in the PEFR or 200 ml in the FEV1 represent a significant improvement for the bronchodilator. In this case, the patient had an improvement of 52 percentage; hence the therapy should be continued.

Health Professions

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