2008 British Guideline on the Management of Asthma - updated June 2009
The 2008 edition of the BTS/SIGN British Guideline on the Management of Asthma was published in the May 2008 issue of Thorax. The new 2008 guideline (revised June 2009) contains a completely rewritten section on diagnosis for both adults and children; a section on special situations which includes occupational asthma, asthma in pregnancy and the new topic of difficult asthma; updated sections on pharmacological and non-pharmacological management; and amalgamated sections on patient education and compliance, and on organisation of care and audit.

2009 revisions include updates to pharmacological management, the management of acute asthma and asthma in pregnancy. Update searches were conducted on inhaler devices but there was insufficient new evidence to change the existing recommendations. The annexes have also been amended to reflect current evidence and are included in the the download below.

To download the full guideline (June 2009 update) click here

To download the quick reference guide (June 2009 update) click here

Reprints of the 2008 Guideline (May 2008 Thorax supplement) can be ordered here

Previous editions of the Asthma Guideline can be found here