Does Salmeterol Use Interfere With Emergency Albuterol?
Some have suggested that regular use of long-acting bronchodilators, such as salmeterol, may cause the patient with asthma to be less responsive to a bronchodilator, such as albuterol, when needed in an emergency. Korosec and associates studied patients who were having an asthma attack and used salmeterol regularly to determine whether the patients were, in fact, less responsive to the short-acting bronchodilator used to abort an attack. Patients who were at least 17 years of age and who took salmeterol regularly were included when they presented to an emergency department with an acute exacerbation of asthma. All patients reported periods of cough, dyspnea and wheeze, as well as symptom-free periods. Peak expiratory flow and pulse oximetry were measured. If the oxygen saturation was less than 90 percent, the patient was given supplemental oxygen. A record was made of the patient’s typical asthma attack presentation as well as medication usage. The best peak expiratory flow measurement
