The procedure, called “bronchial thermoplasty”, could reduce the need for people who have severe asthma to depend on large numbers of medicines and inhalers. It involves inserting a special catheter through their nose or mouth, into the tubes which carry air to the lungs (called bronchi). The catheter delivers radiofrequency heat which destroys part of the muscle lining of the airways; this is the muscle that would contract to cause attacks of asthma and make breathing difficult.

The draft guidance from NICE has been published for a public consultation. It provisionally advises respiratory doctors considering the procedure to explain the uncertainties and risks to their patients before obtaining their consent, to inform their clinical governance leads (usually the hospital's medical director), and to audit the clinical outcomes so that more can be learnt about it in the longer term.