A Critical Asthma Standardized Clinical and Management Plan Reduces Duration of Critical Asthma Therapy

Reduction of critical asthma management time can reduce intensive care utilization. The goal of this study was to determine whether a Critical Asthma Standardized Clinical Assessment and Management Plan (SCAMP) can decrease length of critical asthma management time.

This retrospective study compared critical asthma management times in children managed before and after implementation of a Critical Asthma SCAMP. The SCAMP used an asthma severity score management scheme to guide stepwise escalation and weaning of therapies. The SCAMP guided therapy until continuous albuterol nebulization (CAN) was weaned to intermittent albuterol every 2 hours (q2h). Because the SCAMP was part of a quality improvement initiative in which all patients received a standardized therapy, informed consent was waived. The study was conducted in Medicine ICU and Intermediate Care Units in a tertiary care freestanding children's hospital. Children ≥2 years of age who had CAN initiated in the emergency department and were admitted to the Division of Medicine Critical Care with status asthmaticus were included. The time to q2h dosing from initiation of CAN was compared between the baseline and SCAMP cohorts. Adverse events were compared. The Mann-Whitney test was used for analysis; P values <.05 were considered statistically significant.

There were 150 baseline and 123 SCAMP patients eligible for analysis. There was a decrease in median time to q2h dosing after the SCAMP (baseline, 21.6 hours [interquartile range, 3.2-32.3 hours]; SCAMP, 14.2 hours [interquartile range, 9.0-23.1 hours]; P < .01). There were no differences in adverse events or readmissions.

A Critical Asthma SCAMP was effective in decreasing time on continuous albuterol.