Tuesday, April 28, 2009
1. Corticosteroids
There does not appear to be any benefit from high doses of hydrocortisone exceeding 400 mg/day, and no particular advantage of the intravenous over the oral route provided there is reliable gastrointestinal absorption.
2. agonists
However, continuous administration of nebulised salbutamol in doses approaching 20 mg/h can achieve bronchodilation without toxicity; indeed, the patient’s heart rate may fall with alleviation of airway obstruction
Doses of 0.3 mg/kg/h nebulised salbutamol have been safely used in children without significant toxicity
3. Aminophylline
Typically, a loading dose of 5 mg/kg by slow intravenous infusion over 20 minutes is followed by an infusion of 500 g/kg/h. If prolonged administration is required, daily monitoring of blood theophylline levels is essential. The therapeutic range is
55–110 mol/l (10–20 mg/l).
