Antibiotics for acute asthma (Cochrane Review)

A substantive amendment to this systematic review was last made on 29 December 2000. Cochrane reviews are regularly checked and updated if necessary.

Background: Antibiotics are often prescribed to patients who are admitted to hospital with acute asthma. Their exacerbation is often precipitated by a viral upper respiratory infection (URTI), but in some instances antibiotics are prescribed in spite of questionable efficacy. A lack of strong evidence either to support or to refute the use of treatments in acute asthma leaves room for discussion and debate as to how effective antibiotics are in an acute setting. This review assesses what evidence is available.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of antibiotics prescribed in the treatment of acute asthma.

Search strategy: We searched the electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL) to identify all possible randomised controlled trials.

Selection criteria: Only RCTs or quasi RCTs were eligible for inclusion. Studies were included if patients were treated for acute asthma in the ED or its equivalent with antibiotics or placebo. Two reviewers independently assessed articles for potential relevance, final inclusion, and methodological quality.

Data collection and analysis: Two reviewers completed trial quality assessment and data extraction independently.

Main results: From 128 potential studies, we identified two trials for inclusion in the review. Both trials reported numbers of exacerbations and not patient numbers due to re admissions over the course of the trials. The total number of participants in this review was 97, but values were recorded for 115 exacerbations.An update search conducted in March 2003 identified one ongoing study.

Reviewers' conclusions: The role of antibiotics in the treatment of acute asthma is difficult to assess from the current literature. Recommendations regarding antibiotic use in acute asthma will remain consensus driven until more research is conducted which includes larger numbers of patients.

Citation: Graham V, Lasserson TJ, Rowe BH.. Antibiotics for acute asthma (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.

---

This is an abstract of a regularly updated, systematic review prepared and maintained by the Cochrane Collaboration. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).

The Cochrane Library is designed and produced by Update Software Ltd.

Update Software Ltd, Summertown Pavilion, Middle Way, Oxford OX2 7LG, UK
(Tel:+44 1865 513902; Fax:+44 1865 516918)

File Reference: AB002741.htm