Treatment
Treatment of bronchiectasis includes controlling infections and bronchial secretions, relieving airway obstructions, removal of affected portions of lung by surgical removal or artery embolization and preventing complications. This includes the prolonged usage of antibiotics to prevent detrimental infections, as well as eliminating accumulated fluid with postural drainage and chest physiotherapy. Surgery may also be used to treat localized bronchiectasis, removing obstructions that could cause progression of the disease.
Inhaled steroid therapy that is consistently adhered to can reduce sputum production and decrease airway constriction over a period of time, and help prevent progression of bronchiectasis. One commonly used therapy is beclometasone dipropionate, which is also used in asthma treatment. Use of inhalers such as albuterol (salbutamol), fluticasone (Flovent/Flixotide) and ipratropium (Atrovent) may help reduce likelihood of infection by clearing the airways and decreasing inflammation.
Although not approved for use in any country, Mannitol dry inhalation powder, under the name Bronchitol, has been granted orphan drug status by the FDA for use in patients with bronchiectasis and with cystic fibrosis.
Combination therapies, long acting bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids such as Symbicort and Advair Diskus are also commonly used inhaled medicines which has in many cases been effective in clearing the airways, reducing sputum and reducing inflammation.
Additionally, the use of ACBT (Active Cycle Breathing Techniques) can be useful in the clearance of sputum. These techniques encourage relaxed, diaphragmatic breathing, greater expansion (via collateral inflation) of otherwise consolidated areas of the lungs, and help in mucociliary clearance (MCC). A useful adjunct to these cycles are manual techniques, wherein the healthcare professional uses percussion, vibrations, and shaking, to dislodge sputum from the chest walls, enabling the patient to expectorate more easily.
Read more about this topic: Bronchiectasis
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“I am glad you agree with me as to the treatment of the mining riots. We shall crush out the lawbreakers if the courts and juries do not fail.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Narcissist: psychoanalytic term for the person who loves himself more than his analyst; considered to be the manifestation of a dire mental disease whose successful treatment depends on the patient learning to love the analyst more and himself less.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)