Inhaler Regimen Fine for Hospitalized COPD Patients

A study has found that patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are hospitalized for exacerbations and treated with a metered-dose inhaler (MDI) do just as well as those patients treated with an intravenous/nebulizer regimen. The study was reported in the February 2002 issue of the Respiratory Care Journal.

The study was undertaken by researchers at two community hospitals in Bangor, Maine (USA), in order to determine if a simpler, less-expensive regimen of oral medications could produce the same therapeutic results as a more-expensive, resource-intensive regimen of intravenous drugs. The randomized study involved 34 patients with severe COPD and similar baseline demographic, laboratory, comorbidity, and ventilatory values. Of these, 19 patients received oral treatment via an MDI, while the other 15 patients were treated with an intravenous/nebulizer regimen of methylprednisolone, cefuroxime, and inhaled albuterol and ipratropium bromide.

Outcome variables that compared the MDI treatment to the intravenous treatment--including the mean change in forced expiratory volume in the first second (0.12 l vs 0.13 l), mean length of stay (4.3 vs 5.1 days), and treatment failures (32% vs 33%)-- showed no significant differences.



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Respiratory Care Journal