Pediatria pre prax 5/2011

Current approach to antiasthmatic therapy in very small children

Bronchial asthma belongs to the most common chronic diseases that every paediatrician sees almost daily. As the symptomatology and long-term course of this disease in different periods of childhood is very variable, the decisions about therapeutic strategies are quite complicated. Until recently we did not have specific guidelines for the treatment of paediatric asthma, so the therapy was usually guided by the guidelines for adult asthmatics and was individually adjusted for particular patient. Two years after the Practall initiative document was published (2007) the Global initiative for asthma issued the guidelines for the treatment of asthma in children of five years of age and younger. This article summarizes current guidelines based on the results of the international randomized studies.

Keywords: asthma, Asthma predictive index, inhaled corticosteroids, leukotriene modifiers.