Guidelines

FIRS’ societies produce many guidelines to help physicians, public health workers, and scientists deal with respiratory health problems.
We have linked to popular guidelines dealing with a variety of lung diseases. Select the disease you are interested in or click the link to view the full lists of recommendations by our different societies.

Asthma

Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention 2023
Definition, Assessment, and Treatment of Wheezing Disorders in Preschool Children: An Evidence-Based Approach (2008)
Guidelines for the Management of Work-Related Asthma (2012)
International ERS/ATS Guidelines on Definition, Evaluation and Treatment of Severe Asthma (2014)
The Global Asthma Report (2014)
What the Pulmonary Specialist Should Know About the New Inhalation Therapies (2011)

COPD

An ATS/ERS Statement: Implementation of Pulmonary Rehabilitation (2015)
An Official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Statement: Key Concepts and Advances in Pulmonary Rehabilitation (2013)
An Official ATS/ACCP Statement: The Choosing Wisely Top 5 List in Adult Pulmonary Medicine (2014)
An Official ATS/ERS Statement: Research questions in COPD (2015)
An Official ATS/ERS Statement: Upper Limb Muscle Dysfunction in COPD (2014)
An Official ATS/ERS Systematic Review: Measurement properties of field walking tests in chronic respiratory disease (2014)
An official European Respiratory Society statement on physical activity in COPD
Diagnosis and Management of Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American College of Physicians, American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society, and European Respiratory Society (2011)
Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of COPD 2017
Novel Risk Factors and the Global Burden of COPD (2010)
Nutritional assessment and therapy in COPD: a European Respiratory Society (2014)
Official ATS/ERS Technical Standards: Field walking tests in chronic respiratory disease (2014)
Outcomes for COPD pharmacological trials: from lung function to biomarkers (2008)
Prevention of Acute Exacerbations of COPD (2015)
Smoking cessation in patients with respiratory diseases: a high priority, integral component of therapy
Update on the Mechanisms, Assessment, and Management of Dyspnea (2012)

Cough

Expert opinion on the cough hypersensitivity syndrome in respiratory medicine (2011)

Critical Care

An ATS Clinical Practice Guideline: ICU-acquired weakness (2014)
An ATS Policy Statement: Managing conscientious objections in the ICU (2015)
An Official ATS/AACN/ACCP/ESICM/SCCM Statement: Responding to requests for potentially inappropriate therapies in the ICU (2015)
An Official ATS/AACN/ACCP/SCCM Statement: The Choosing Wisely Top 5 List in Critical Care Medicine (2014)
An Official ATS/ACCM Statement: Shared Decision Making in ICUs (2016)
An Official Multi-Society Statement: The Role of Clinical Research Results in the Practice of Critical Care Medicine (2012)
Care of the Critically Ill and Injured During Pandemics and Disasters (2014)
ICU Telemedicine (2011)
Liberation from Mechanical Ventilation: An Official American College of Chest Physicians/American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline (2017)
Liberation From Mechanical Ventilation in Critically Ill Adults (2017)
Prevention and Management for Acute Renal Failure in an ICU Patient (2010)
Weaning from mechanical ventilation

Climate Change and Lung Health

Forum of International Respiratory Societies

The Impact of Flooding on Respiratory Health: A Statement by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies

Global study links short-term air pollution exposure to cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, warns international respiratory group

European Respiratory Society

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) actively advocates for clean air as part of its ongoing work regarding the impact of environmental factors on respiratory health. More information and all recent statements and resources issued by ERS can be found on the dedicated ERS Environment and health webpage.

Environment and health - ERS - European Respiratory Society (ersnet.org)

European Lung Foundation

Climate change is one of five key themes of the European Lung Foundation (ELF) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Healthy Lungs for Life campaign. Climate change can affect your lungs as well as the planet. Find out more about the impact of climate change and steps you can take to fight against it on the ELF website:

Learn how climate change can affect your lungs and what you can do to limit the impact

Climate change and your lungs' infographic (available in 10 languages)

The American College of Chest Physicians

Explore the health impact of climate change and environmental injustices in this advocacy publication from the American College of Chest Physicians, CHEST Advocates. The issue includes a list of relevant research published in the journal CHEST®, an article by the CHEST representative to the Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health, Dr. Stephanie Maximous, and more:

Where There’s Fire, There’s Smoke: Examining the effects of climate change on lung health

Understanding and Treating the Health Effects of Wildfire Smoke | Articles - American College of Chest Physicians (chestnet.org)

The Asian Pacific Society of Respirology
Philippine College of Chest Physicians

Volcano eruptions and your respiratory health

Clinical Pulmonary

Respiratory Management of Patients With Neuromuscular Weakness (2023)

Environmental & Occupational

An Official ATS Statement Work Exacerbated Asthma (2011)
An Official ATS Statement: Diagnosis and Management of Beryllium Sensitivity and Chronic Beryllium Disease (2014)
An Official ATS Workshop Report: Climate Change and Human Health (2012)
Asthma in the Workplace (2009)
Specific inhalation challenge in the diagnosis of occupational asthma (2014)
Spirometry in the occupational setting (2014)

Health Care Policy

An ATS Policy Statement: Managing conscientious objections in the ICU (2015)
An ATS Statement: Tobacco Control and Treatment (2015)
An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Policy Statement: Palliative Care for Patients with Respiratory Diseases and Critical Illnesses (2008)
An Official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Policy Statement: Disparities in Respiratory Health (2013)
An Official ATS / ISHLT / SCCM / AOPO / UNOS Policy Statement: Ethical and Policy Considerations in Organ Donation after Circulatory Determination of Death (2013)
An Official ATS Policy Statement: Managing Conflict of Interest in Professional Societies (2009)
An Official ATS/AACN/ACCP/ESICM/SCCM Statement: Responding to requests for potentially inappropriate therapies in the ICU (2015)
An Official ATS/ACCM Statement: Shared Decision Making in ICUs (2016)

Interstitial Lung Disease

An international ISHLT/ATS/ERS clinical practice guideline: diagnosis and management of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (2014)
An Official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Statement: Update of the International Multidisciplinary Classification of the Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias (2013)
An Official ATS Clinical Practice Guideline: The Clinical Utility of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Cellular Analysis In Interstitial Lung Disease (2012)
An Official ATS/ACCP Statement: The Choosing Wisely Top 5 List in Adult Pulmonary Medicine (2014)
An Official ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT Guideline: Treatment of IPF (2015)
An Official ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT Statement: Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Evidence-based Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management (2011)
ATS / ERS: International Multidisciplinary Consensus Classification of the Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias
An official European Respiratory Society/ American Thoracic Society research statement: Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (2015)
Diagnosis and Evaluation of Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (2021)
European Respiratory Society statement on frailty in adults with chronic lung disease (2023)
Recomendaciones para el diagnóstico y tratamiento de la Fibrosis Pulmonar Idiopática – 2015 [Recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis]

Interventional Pulmonology

Adult Bronchoscopy Training (2015)
American College of Chest Physicians Consensus Statement on the use of Topical Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Sedation During Flexible Bronchoscopy in Adult Patients
Official ATS Technical Standards: Flexible airway endoscopy in children (2015)
Technical Aspects of Endobronchial Ultrasound Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (2016)
Transbronchial Cryobiopsy for the Diagnosis of Interstitial Lung Diseases (2020)

Lung cancer

An ATS Statement: Research Framework for Pulmonary Nodule Evaluation and Management (2015)
An ATS/ACCP Policy Statement: Components necessary for lung cancer screening (2014)
An ATS/CHEST Statement: Implementation of Low-dose CT Lung Cancer Screening (2015)
An Official ATS/ACCP Statement: The Choosing Wisely Top 5 List in Adult Pulmonary Medicine (2014)
An Official ATS/ERS Statement: The Role of the Pulmonologist in Lung Cancer (2013)
ERS/ESTS clinical guidelines on fitness for radical therapy in lung cancer patients (surgery and chemo-radiotherapy) (2009)
Guidelines of the European Respiratory Society and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons for the management of malignant pleural mesothelioma (2010)
International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society International Multidisciplinary Classification of Lung Adenocarcinoma (2011)
Combined endobronchial and oesophageal endosonography for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer (2015)
Screening for Lung Cancer (2021)

Pediatric Lung Disease

An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline: Classification, Evaluation, and Management of Childhood Interstitial Lung Disease in Infancy (2013)
An Official ATS Clinical Policy Statement: Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome - Genetic Basis, Diagnosis, and Management (2010)
An Official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Statement: Pulmonary Function Testing in Preschool Children (2007)
ATS Clinical Practice Guidelines: Diagnostic Evaluation of Infants with Recurrent or Persistent Wheezing (2016)
ATS Clinical Practice Guidelines: Pediatric Chronic Home Invasive Ventilation (2016)
ATS/AHA Clinical Practice Guidelines: Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension (2015)
ERS statement on tracheomalacia and bronchomalacia in children (2019)
Factors influencing age at diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia in European children (2010)
Monitoring asthma in children (2015)
Official ATS Technical Standards: Flexible airway endoscopy in children (2015)
Primary ciliary dyskinesia: a consensus statement on diagnostic and treatment approaches in children (2009)

Pulmonary Testing

An international ISHLT/ATS/ERS clinical practice guideline: diagnosis and management of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (2014)
An official ERS/ATS Technical Standard: Field walking tests in chronic respiratory disease (2014)
An Official ATS Clinical Practice Guideline: Interpretation of Exhaled Nitric Oxide Levels (FeNO) for Clinical Applications (2011)
An official systematic review of the European Respiratory Society/American Thoracic Society: Measurement properties of field walking tests in chronic respiratory disease (2014)
Consensus statement for inert gas washout measurement using multiple- and single-breath tests (2013)
Definition, assessment and treatment of wheezing disorders in preschool children: an evidence-based approach (2008)
Recommendations on the use of exercise testing in clinical practice (2007)

Pulmonary Vascular Diseases

An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline: Diagnosis, Risk Stratification, and Management of Pulmonary Hypertension of Sickle Cell Disease (2014)
Antithrombotic Therapy in Arterial Thrombosis and Thromboembolism in COVID-19 (2023)
An Official American Thoracic Society Statement: Pulmonary Hypertension Phenotypes (2013)
Antithrombotic Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation (2018)
Antithrombotic Therapy for VTE Disease (2021)
An Official American Thoracic Society/Society of Thoracic Radiology Clinical Practice Guideline: Evaluation of Suspected Pulmonary Embolism In Pregnancy (2011)
ATS/AHA Clinical Practice Guidelines: Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension (2015)
Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension (2015)
Perioperative Management of Antithrombotic Therapy (2022)
Therapy for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Adults (2019)

Research & Policy

A Guide to Guidelines for Professional Societies and Other Developers of Recommendations (2012)
An Official American Thoracic Society Research Statement: Comparative Effectiveness Research in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine (2013)
An Official ATS Statement: Future Directions in Lung Fibrosis Research (2016)
European Curriculum Recommendations for Training in Adult Respiratory Medicine (2008)
Multi-Society Task Force for Critical Care Research: Key Issues and Recommendations (2012)

Respiratory infection

An Official ATS/IDSA Statement: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Diseases (2007)
An official American Thoracic Society statement: Treatment of fungal infections in adult pulmonary and critical care patients.
Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis: rationale and clinical guidelines for diagnosis and management (2015)
European Respiratory Society Clinical Practice Guideline on symptom management for adults with serious respiratory illness (2023)
Management of Adults With Hospital-acquired and Ventilator-associated Pneumonia: 2016 Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Thoracic Society (2016)

Tuberculosis

The Union 2023
The Union 2022
The Union 2021
The Union 2020
The Union 2019
The Union 2018
An Official ATS/IDSA Statement: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Diseases (2007)
Official American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Clinical Practice Guidelines: Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Adults and Children (2017)

Tobacco Control

The Union 2022
The Union 2022
Smoking cessation in COPD and other pulmonary diseases and in smokers with comorbidities who find it difficult to quit (2014)

Links to Guidelines by all Societies

American College of Chest Physicians
American Thoracic Society
Asian Pacific Society of Respirology
Asociación Latino Americana De Tórax
European Respiratory Society
International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases
Pan African Thoracic Society
Global Initiative for Asthma
Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease

Sleep

An ATS Statement: The Importance of Healthy Sleep (2015)
An Official ATS Clinical Practice Guidelines: Sleep Apnea, Sleepiness, and Driving Risk (2013)
An Official ATS Statement: CPAP Adherence Tracking Systems (2013)
An Official ATS Statement: Impact of Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adults (2016)
An Official ATS Statement: Position Statement on ATS Activities for the Promotion of Respiratory and Sleep/Wake Health and the Care of the Critically Ill in the United States (2009)
Non-CPAP therapies in obstructive sleep apnoea (2011)
Recommendations for the management of patients with obstructive sleep apnoea and hypertension (2013)