Guidelines for Methacholine and Exercise Challenge Testing

This statement provides practical guidelines and suggestions for methacholine and exercise challenging testing. Specifically, it reviews indications for these challenges, details factors that influence the results, presents brief step-by-step protocols, outlines safety measures, describes proper patient preparation and procedures, provides an algorithm for calculating results, and offers guidelines for clinical interpretation of results.ഀ ഀ These guidelines are geared to patients who can perform good-quality spirometry tests; they are not appropriate for infants or preschool children. They are not intended to limit the use of alternative protocols or procedures that have been established as acceptable methods.