Respiratory Medicine » Evaluation of common symptoms

Prolonged cough

A cough that lasts more than 4 - 8 weeks is defined as prolonged cough. Coughs of shorter duration are usually caused by pulmonary infections and hyper-reactivity of the airways as the infection subsides. The initial step in the evaluation is a medical history and physical examination.This is almost always followed by a chest X-ray. Depending on the results of the initial evaluation, further diagnostic tests may be performed. The tests performed depend on the suspected cause of the cough. The differential diagnosis includes post nasal dip, GERD, bronchial asthma, Bronchiectasis, COPD lung cancer and foreign body. Nonspecific therapy for cough may be employed to relieve symptoms until the therapy directed at the cause becomes effective.

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