Managing patients with chronic cough: challenges and solutions

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology and Internal Medicine

Background:

• Chronic cough is a prevalent clinical issue frequently necessitating medical attention.
• Effective management of chronic cough presents significant clinical challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of current clinical guidelines for managing chronic cough.
• To outline diagnostic steps, common etiologies, and recent therapeutic advancements.

Main Methods:

• Review of current management guidelines for chronic cough.
• Identification of diagnostic criteria and alert signs for further investigation.
• Summary of common causes: asthma, non-asthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and upper airway cough syndrome.
• Discussion of recent advances in refractory chronic cough pathophysiology and treatment.

Main Results:

• Guidelines emphasize initial assessment for obvious causes and red flags.
• Key conditions like asthma, eosinophilic bronchitis, GERD, and upper airway cough syndrome require specific diagnosis and treatment.
• Refractory chronic cough management is evolving with new pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches.

Conclusions:

• A systematic approach to diagnosing and treating common causes is crucial for chronic cough management.
• Recent insights into refractory chronic cough pathophysiology are improving treatment strategies, with speech pathology therapy showing promise.