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  • Early prehospital use of non-invasive ventilation improves acute respiratory failure in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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Early prehospital use of non-invasive ventilation improves acute respiratory failure in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  1. Willi Schmidbauer1,
  2. Olaf Ahlers2,
  3. Claudia Spies2,
  4. Anke Dreyer1,
  5. Georg Mager3,
  6. Thoralf Kerner2,4
  1. 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Bundeswehrkrankenhaus Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  2. 2Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum and Campus Charité Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  3. 3Bundeswehrkrankenhaus Koblenz, Koblenz, Germany
  4. 4Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Asklepios Klinik Harburg, Hamburg, Germany
  1. Correspondence to Dr Olaf Ahlers, Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum and Campus Charité Mitte, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany; olaf.ahlers{at}charite.de

Abstract

Aim To evaluate the use of prehospital non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Methods 36 adult patients were treated by prehospital NIV or standard oxygen therapy.

Results Prehospital NIV was described as feasible by the paramedics. Prehospital improvement of respiratory rate and dyspnoea was significantly better and the length of intensive care was significantly lower in NIV patients.

Conclusion Prehospital NIV can be managed by a trained emergency team with high but sustainable workload. Dyspnoea and length of intensive care may be significantly reduced.

Clinical trial registration number ISRCTN47620321.

  • COPD
  • emergency ambulance systems
  • non-invasive
  • nursing
  • prehospital
  • respiratory
  • ventilation

https://doi.org/10.1136/emj.2009.089102

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    Footnotes

    • WS and OA contributed equally to this study.

    • Funding This study was funded by the medical service of the German armed forces.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval This study was conducted with the approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee, Charite Universitätsmedizin, Berlin.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.