Wednesday July 22, 2009

Scenario: You have a patient with acute exacerbation of asthma. Pharmacy informed you that only steroid available is hydrocortisone. What is the dose of hydrocortisone in acute exacerbation of asthma?



Answer: Hydrocortisone (Cortef) 100 to 250 mg IV q 6 hours


Following are different steroids can be use in exacerbation of asthma

Betamethasone (Celestone) 0.5 to 0.9 mg IM/PO qd
Cortisone (Cortone) 25-300 mg PO qd
Dexamethasone (Decadron) 0.75-9 mg PO/IM/IV q q6h

Hydrocortisone (Cortef)
Parenteral: 100 to 150 mg IV/IM q2-6 hours prn
Oral: 20 to 240 mg/day PO in divided dosing

Methylprednisolone
Parenteral (Solu-Medrol) 10 to 125 mg IV/IM q 6
Oral (Medrol) 4 to 48 mg PO qd