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Most children who have an acute asthma attack are treated with oral steroids for 5 to 7 days. Might leukotriene inhibitors be an alternative treatment to oral steroids? To find out, investigators conducted an industry-funded double-blind trial in a convenience sample of 130 children (age range, 2–17 years) with mild-to-moderate asthma who presented with acute asthma attacks to a single emergency department in Canada. In the ED, children received oral prednisone and albuterol with ipratropium bromide and were randomized to receive either oral steroids or montelukast for 5 days after discharge. Treatment failure (the primary outcome) was defined as any asthma-related unscheduled medical visit or hospitalization, or treatment with additional s…