Table 3.

Sedation, analgesia and paralysis in patients with acute severe asthma exacerbation requiring intubation.

Medication	Dosing	Side Effects	References
Midazolam	0.03–0.1 mg/kg bolus iv infusion, followed by an infusion of 3–10 mg/h	Hypotension	[268,269]
Propofol	Infusion of 60–80 mg/min initially, up to 2 mg/kg. Continue with iv infusion of 5–10 mg/kg/h as needed, and for sedation on mechanical ventilation 1–4 mg/kg/h	Hypotension, seizures, hyperlipidemia	[262,268]
Fentanyl	50–100 μg/kg bolus iv infusion, followed by infusion of 50–100 μg/h	Bradycardia, histamine release	[268,269]
Remifentanyl	Initial dose of 1 μg/kg iv infusion, followed by an infusion of 0.25–0.5 μg/kg/min (up to 2 μg/kg/min)	Bradycardia, hypotension	[268,269]
Ketamine	1 mg/mL bolus iv infusion, followed by a maintenance infusion of 0.1–0.5 mg/min	Sympatheticomimetic effects, delirium	[250,251,252]
Dexmedetomidine	Initial loading dose of 1 μg/kg, iv over 10–30 min, followed by a maintenance infusion of 0.2–0.7 μg/kg/h	Hypotension, bradycardia	[68,269]
Cis-atracurium	0.1–0.2 mg/kg bolus iv infusion, followed by infusion in a rate of 3 μg/kg/min (up to 10 μg/mL/min)	Bronchospasm	[269,270]