KEY POINTS IN COPD MANAGEMENT

Question 1

What are the 12 KEY POINTS IN COPD MANAGEMENT?

Answer 1

1. Smoking scessation
2. GOALS are to reduce symptoms and future risk of exacerbation
3. Pharmacotherapy can reduce COPD symptoms, reduce the frequency and severity of exacerbations and improve health status and exercise tolerance.
4. Each Pharmacological treatment regimen should be invidivualized and guided by the severity of the symptoms, risk of exacerbations, side effects, comorbidities, drug cost, and patients response, preference and ability to use various drug delivery devices
5. Inhaler technique needs to be assessed regulary
6. Vaccines - COVID, influenza, pneumococcal, Tdap
7. Pulmonary rehabilitation with its core components including exercise training combined with disease-specific education is good!
8. Pts with severe chronic hypoexmia (PaO2 <55mmHg, or <60mmHg if there is cor pulmonale or secondary polycythemia), long-term oxygen therapy improves survival
9. Pts with stable COPD and resting or exercise induced moderate desaturation, long-term oxygen treatment should not be prescribed routinely.
10. Pts with severe chronic hypercapnia and a history or hospitalization for acute respiratory failure, long term non invasive ventilation may decrease mortality and prevent rehospitalization
11. In patients with advanced emphysema refractory to optimiized medical, surgical or bronchoscopic interventional treatments may be beneficial
12. Palliative approaches are effective in controlling advanced COPD