Patient Cases · clinic
Breathless, and using the blue inhaler every day
- 1. Chart
- 2. Assess each medication
- 3. Prioritize
- 4. Recommend
- 5. Debrief
Two exacerbations this winter, and he is not sure which inhaler is which.
- COPD, ex-smoker with a 45 pack-year history, stopped three years ago.
- Two courses of prednisone and antibiotics in the last six months.
- Uses the blue inhaler four or five times most days and says it is the only one that helps.
- Type 2 diabetes, well controlled until the steroid courses.
- Demonstrates his technique: presses and inhales at the same moment, no spacer, no breath hold.