OLOL Offering New Procedure to Treat Severe Asthma

Patients with severe asthma now have a new option for managing their disease. Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center is offering an innovative procedure called bronchial thermoplasty that provides severe asthma patients with a safe, long-lasting and proven treatment option to reduce asthma attacks.

“This procedure can improve the quality of life for those suffering from asthma,” said Dr. Brad Vincent, pulmonologist at Our Lady of the Lake. “Unlike conventional treatments, bronchial thermoplasty provides long-term benefit to patients suffering from asthma without the use of medications.”

Bronchial thermoplasty is the first device-based asthma treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The procedure is for patients 18 and older with severe asthma whose disease is not well controlled with medications like inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists.

The procedure is non-surgical and performed on an outpatient basis. During the procedure, thermal energy is applied to reduce the excessive smooth muscle tissue in the airways. This helps minimize airway constriction, making asthma attacks less frequent and less severe.  

“Bronchial thermoplasty not only reduces the frequency of asthma attacks, but as a result, also reduces emergency room visits, hospitalizations and days missed from work due to symptoms of asthma,” said Dr. Vincent.

Asthma, known to affect more than 25 million people in the U.S., is a potentially life-threatening condition in which a person’s airways become inflamed and narrow.  It is one of the most common and costly diseases in the world. In the U.S. each year, asthma attacks result in approximately 10 million outpatient visits, two million emergency rooms visits, 500,000 hospitalizations, and 4,000 deaths, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA).

10/20/2016