Therapy

• iv beta-2 agonists ^d   (e.g. salbutamol 5 µg/min initially, adjusted to response up to 20 µg/min) 

Why?

• Patients with severe asthma (PEFR < 20% predicted or heart rate > 100 beats/min) who receive iv beta-2 agonists compared with control do not clearly have a higher PEFR at 60 minutes, and are not clearly more likely to improve clinically. ^d