Treatment of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

the article contains current information on the main groups of drugs and algorithms for their use in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The authors of the article show that the use of bronchodilators is a key link in the treatment of exacerbations. The effectiveness of β2‑agonists and ipratropium bromide in exacerbations of COPD is approximately the same, the advantage of β2‑agonists is a faster onset of action, and anticholinergic drugs are high safety and good tolerability. For the optimal choice of an approach to the treatment of COPD exacerbations, it is recommended to use biomarkers such as C-reactive protein, the use of antibacterial therapy is rational with an increase in the level of C-reactive protein ≥ 10–20 mg/l (in many cases, the level of CRP less than 20 mg / l indicates a viral etiology), it can be useful to assess such a specific marker as procalcitonin (a level of more than 0.5 is characteristic of a bacterial infection).