The Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center performs lung function tests such as spirometry.
Spirometry is a test that measures how much and how fast air flows into and out of the lungs.
Show AllSpirometry is measured by having your child place padded nose clips on their nose and place their mouth around a clean, filtered mouthpiece. After breathing normally the therapist will ask your child to breathe in deeply and then blast out the air, as hard and fast and long as possible. The therapist will have your child repeat the test until we have at least 3 consistent tests. Depending on the results your child may repeat the test 15 minutes after an inhaled medication is administered.
The actual test only takes a few minutes. However, with explanation and practice testing may take up to 40 minutes.
If at all possible, your child should not use any short acting asthma medications / bronchodilators for 4 hours prior to testing. If you have any questions about which medications to hold, please check with your child's physician or call the pulmonary function lab.
