Treament of respiratory failure secondary to the acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases through bilevel positive airway pressure ventilation via nasal/mouth mask

Objective To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of by using bilevel positive airway pressure(BiPAP)ventilation via nasal/mouth mask in patients with respiratory failure secondary to the acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases(COPD).Methods 31 patients were randomly submitted either to standard therapy(consisting of medical,oxygen and physical therapy)plus BiPAP or to standard therapy.Clinical manifestation(including respiratory rate,heart rate,blood pressure and conscious status)and arterial blood gas analysis before and after 1 hour,7 days after treatment in each group were comparatively analysed.Results After 1 hour,7 days of treatment by BiPAP,patients showed a significant improvement in PaO 2,PaCO 2,and clinical manifestation,and there was a significant difference between two groups.Conclusion BiPAP ventilation is effective in patients with respiratory failure during acute exacerbation of COPD.