Order of Therapies for Cystic Fibrosis

Keeping Your Airway Clear

Part of care for cystic fibrosis is keeping your airways clear. This means doing airway clearance treatments. A treatment may be with a medicine. Some medicines open your airways. Some loosen or thin mucus. Others help fight bacteria in your lungs. Using an exact order of treatment makes them most effective.

Complete your medicine and airway clearance treatments in this order. If you don’t take a medicine on this list, you can skip that step. Follow any specific instructions you have been given from your doctor.

List of Medicines

1. Bronchodilator (Albuterol)

2. Hypertonic saline (Hyper-Sal™)

3. DNase (Pulmozyme®)

4. Airway clearance (vest, Acapella®, Aerobika®, flutter, manual chest physiotherapy)

5. Asthma controller medicines (Flovent®, Advair, Symbicort)

6. Aerosolized antibiotic (Cayston®, TOBI®, Colistin)

When to Call 

If you have any questions about your specific treatment plan call the Pediatric Pulmonary Clinic: 608-263-6420.

If you are a patient receiving care at UnityPoint – Meriter, Swedish American or a health system outside of UW Health, please use the phone numbers provided in your discharge instructions for any questions or concerns.