What Is the Role for Magnesium to Treat Severe Pediatric Asthma Exacerbations?

In this review, we explore the role for intravenous magnesium sulfate (IVMg) to treat children with acute exacerbations of asthma. Children who receive care for severe acute asthma in emergency departments are often hospitalized after inadequate response to standard asthma treatment. IVMg may have a role to decrease hospitalization of children with severe acute asthma, but is in need of further research. Future exploration of IVMg should include larger randomized controlled trials of IVMg versus standard treatment, administration of IVMg with enough time to have effect on hospitalization, exploration of the pharmacology of IVMg so that the most effective dosage regimens can be selected, and use of measures and criteria to select research participants reflective of the children likely to benefit from more effective asthma treatment in clinical practice.