Pediatric Asthma Diagnosis

Pediatric asthma has been on rise lately, many infants and young children have been diagnosed with it and the conditions are worsening to say but the least. If the children have symptoms that can easily be related to asthma and there has been a history of asthma in the patient's family, the doctor is going to perform certain tests usually known to us as the pulmonary function tests to confirm the determine the severity of the disease.

There is an instrument called the spirometer, which measures the air inhaled into and exhaled from the lungs with which the doctor will settle on several values. He is going to determine the maximum volume of air that can be inhaled or exhaled from the lungs, also known as the Vital capacity (VC). Then the peak flow rate, the maximum flow rate that can be generated during a forced exhalation is also measured with a specific instrument. After going through with all of these tests, the doctor is going to diagnose whether or not the patient is suffering from asthma and the following steps will be taken.

In the case where the measurements fall, the doctor will just ask the patient to start using a bronchodilator to support breathing. This drug is can be a great help in the opening up of air passages. After the use of it for some time, these measurements are taken again. Now if the results somehow show that this drug has de clogged the airways, and a diagnosis of asthma is strongly suspected. In the case where these results do not show any airway obstruction, but asthma is still suspected, a challenge test could be performed by the doctor as it sometimes can give results. Allergy Tests

Now the children could also be allergic to something only. Some allergy tests could be performed on the children, mainly if a specific allergen is suspected and available for testing. Allergy skin can be the best judge for allergic asthma. The scratch test or skin prick test is also a good way of testing allergies. The test is performed by placing a minute amount of the suspected allergy-causing allergen on the skin; usually the forearm, upper arm, or the back, then scratching or pricking the skin so that the allergen is inserted in the skin surface. Then the doctors observe the skin for any reactions, which can be indicated by swelling and redness of the site. Many such allergens can be tested at the same time with the results usually available within 20 minutes or so.

There are some tests which either rule out other diseases or can provide you with more information about the causes of asthma like a complete blood count, chest and sinus x-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans etc. CT scans can be handy in certain cases, like determining wall thickness in thus signifying a higher risk for lung damage. The doctors might examine the patient's sputum for white blood cells that in high levels are associated with severe allergic asthma.

So with this we conclude that pediatric asthma diagnosis is something that can be done pretty easily with the m any tests that doctors usually conduct.