Acute and Subacute Cough.

Source: PubMed, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine

Cough is one of the most common reasons for health care visits. This article seeks to illustrate the classification, appropriate workup, and management of acute and subacute cough. It highlights etiologies such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and exacerbation of heart failure and asthma. There is an emphasis placed on potentially life-threatening pathologies associated with cough and how to appropriate triage cough severity in an emergency setting. The pathophysiology of cough and how it may lead to severe barotraumatic complications such as pneumothorax and Mallory Weiss tears is discussed.