Authors: Gogineni Sujatha, Vindhya Pannathota
Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Many people with COPD suffer from Acute exacerbations of COPD which affects their health and poor prognosis, leading to increased costs of hospitalization and quality of life. Materials and Methods: 69 patients were initially screened by Gold criteria to establish COPD Exacerbations were measured as per Anthonisen’s criteria and the patient was admitted into the ICU. Hematological and biochemical investigations were done and exacerbation were graded. Results: The mean age of the patients was 67.2 9.8 years. Out of the 69 patients, 6 of them died during their stay at the hospital. 58% of them were smokers having more than 2 pack of cigarettes per day. The most common comorbity present among these patients was Diabetes in 44.9% of them followed by tuberculosis in 34.8% patients. Conclusion: Some of the risk factors for acute exacerbations in COPD are age, diabetes, FEV1 volume, PaCO2 levels, smoking. Therefore, to reduce the morbidity and mortality of the patient’s an early detection is essential so that treatment con be started. Moreover, since future exacerbations normally occur in such patients, they need to be monitored before their symptoms become more prominent. Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Exacerbation, Dyspnea.
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