British guideline on the management of asthma: SIGN Clinical Guideline 141, 2014

### Clinical bottom line This latest revision of national guidance on asthma management was produced jointly by the British Thoracic Society (BTS) and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) in October 2014 and marks the largest revision to date including changes to the guideline structure.1 Established standards for guideline development were followed to produce recommendations for the emergency and long-term management of asthma in children, adolescents and adults. There was wide stakeholder input from national and international individuals and institutions, with opportunity for feedback via conferences and websites; the guideline was also reviewed by independent expert referees and underwent editorial review to ensure comments were addressed and bias was minimised. It provides a basis for high-quality care for acute and chronic asthma, and a stimulus for research in the areas in which evidence is still lacking. The first joint BTS/SIGN asthma guideline was published in 2003 as a ‘living guideline’, with annual updates between 2004 and 2012, and every two years since; this is the first such update. In this revision, BTS/SIGN have helpfully presented a new section of key recommendations for implementation and linked these to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard (QS) for asthma, which was published in February 2013.2 ### Diagnosis