Chronic productive cough: An approach to management

❏ Diagnostic algorithm for patients with chronic productive cough outlined. A chronic 'productive' or 'wet' cough is a common presenting complaint for patients attending the adult respiratory clinic. Most reviews and guidelines suggest that the causes of a productive cough are the same as those of a non-productive cough and as such the same diagnostic pathway should be followed. Although it seems likely that all of the conditions which may present as a productive cough could present as non-productive cough, experiences suggests that some conditions are much more likely to result in productive cough than others whilst some of the common causes of dry cough such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) less commonly cause productive cough. This article is not a detailed systematic review of cough, but is intended to briefly summarise a number of conditions which are often associated with a chronic productive cough to aid decision making when encountering a patient with this often distressing symptom.