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bronchodilator
(redirected from Bronchodilator agents)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
bronchodilator /bron·cho·di·la·tor/ (-di´la-ter)
1. expanding the lumina of the air passages of the lungs.
2. an agent which causes dilatation of the bronchi.

bron·cho·di·la·tor (brngk-d-ltr, -dl-, -d-l-)
n.
An agent that causes an increase in the caliber of a bronchus or bronchial tube and eases breathing by relaxing bronchial smooth muscle.

Bronchodilator
A medicine used to open up the bronchial tubes (air passages) of the lungs.

bronchodilator
[-dilā′tər]
a substance, especially a drug, that relaxes contractions of the smooth muscle of the bronchioles to improve ventilation to the lungs. Pharmacologic bronchodilators are prescribed to improve aeration in asthma, bronchiectasis, bronchitis, and emphysema. Commonly used bronchodilators include albuterol, terbutaline, and various derivatives and combinations of these drugs. The adverse effects vary, depending on the particular class of the bronchodilating drug. In general, bronchodilators are given with caution to people with impaired cardiac function. Nervousness, irritability, gastritis, or palpitations of the heart may occur.

bronchodilator [brong″ko-di-la´tor]
1. expanding the lumina of the bronchi.
2. an agent that does this. Epinephrine is one of the most powerful bronchodilators and can be administered by injection or by aerosol. Isoproterenol (Isuprel) affects the bronchi by relieving bronchospasm through its action on smooth muscle. It is one of the most widely used aerosol bronchodilators. Other drugs used to enlarge the lumen of the bronchi and thereby facilitate breathing and removal of secretions include isoetharine, atropine, and aminophylline.

bronchodilator (brong´kōdī-lā´tur),
n a drug that dilates, or expands, the size of the lumina of the air passages of the lungs by relaxing the muscular walls.

bronchodilator
1. expanding the lumina of the air passages of the lungs.
2. an agent that causes dilatation of the bronchi. Epinephrine is one of the most powerful bronchodilators and can be administered by injection or by aerosol. Some drugs used to enlarge the lumen of the bronchi and thereby facilitate breathing and removal of secretions are albuterol, ipratropium and aminophylline.

bronchodilator-antitussive combination
see antitussive-bronchodilator combination.

bronchodilator
Chest medicine Any agent that dilates airway lumina, to ↑ airflow, given to wheezing Pts Examples Theophylline, aminophylline, epinephrine, Alupent, metaproterenol, isoproterenol, Ventolin, Proventil, salmeterol, pirbuterol, albuterol. See Adrenergic bronchodilator, Asthma, Wheezing.


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As the disease progresses, it is often necessary to use two or more bronchodilator agents from different classes to obtain symptomatic relief.
Stockley reported that two of these bronchodilator agents -- theophylline and terbutaline -- appeared to boost the activity of many white blood cells called neutrophils in a test-tube experiment.
 
 
 
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