Treatment of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Aim: To assess the quality of medical care provided in large Russian hospitals to patients with COPD exacerbation.

Materials And Methods: The study included patients with acute exacerbations of COPD hospitalized into three large clinical hospitals in Moscow. The diagnosis of "COPD exacerbation" was established in accordance with current clinical recommendations. We collected the data about patients' demography, clinical signs and symptoms, blood gas analysis, chest radiography, drug therapy, oxygen therapy and respiratory support. The follow-up period was 90 days. The obtained data were compared with the data of patients from the multicenter study "European COPD Audit".

Results: The leading clinical symptoms in COPD exacerbation were dyspnea (95.4%) and sputum production (60.7%). The majority of patients with COPD received short-acting β2-agonists (77.4%), systemic steroids (85.1%), antibiotics (79.0%) and theophyllines (48.1%). Noninvasive ventilation was performed in 8.6% of patients, oxygen therapy - in 23,8% of patients, pulmonary rehabilitation - in only 6,2% of patients. Chest radiography was performed in 97.9% of patients, pulmonary function tests - in 79.8%, blood gases analysis - in 19.3% of patients. The mean duration of hospitalization was 18.2±3.9 days, repeated hospitalization within 90 days occurs in 36.2% of patients. In-hospital mortality was 3.3%.

Conclusion: Based on the results of the study practical recommendations for improving the quality of medical care in acute exacerbations of COPD are proposed.