Medical Uses
Salbutamol is typically used to treat bronchospasm (due to either allergen asthma or exercise-induced), as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Other uses include in cystic fibrosis, along with ipratropium bromide, acetylcysteine, and pulmozyme and subtypes of congenital myasthenic syndromes associated to mutations in Dok-7.
As a β2-agonist, salbutamol also finds use in obstetrics. Intravenous salbutamol can be used as a tocolytic to relax the uterine smooth muscle to delay premature labor. While preferred over agents such as atosiban and ritodrine, its role has largely been replaced by the calcium-channel blocker nifedipine, which is more effective, better tolerated and orally administered.
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