Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) in the management of respiratory failure secondary to acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Design: Systematic review of randomised controlled trials that compared NPPV and usual medical care with usual medical care alone in patients admitted to hospital with respiratory failure resulting from an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and with PaCO2 >6 kPa.
Results: The eight studies included in the review showed that, compared with usual care alone, NPPV as an adjunct to usual care was associated with a lower mortality (relative risk 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.26 to 0.64)), a lower need for intubation (relative risk 0.42 (0.31 to 0.59)), lower likelihood of treatment failure (relative risk 0.51 (0.38 to 0.67)), and greater improvements at 1 hour in pH (weighted mean difference 0.03 (0.02 to 0.04)), PaCO2 (weighted mean difference -0.40 kPa (-0.78 to -0.03)), and respiratory rate (weighted mean difference -3.08 breaths per minute (-4.26 to -1.89)). NPPV resulted in fewer complications associated with treatment (relative risk 0.32 (0.18 to 0.56)) and shorter duration of stay in hospital (weighted mean difference -3.24 days (-4.42 to -2.06)).
Conclusions: NPPV should be the first line intervention in addition to usual medical care to manage respiratory failure secondary to an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in all suitable patients. NPPV should be tried early in the course of respiratory failure and before severe acidosis, to reduce mortality, avoid endotracheal intubation, and decrease treatment failure.