Antibiotics used in the ambulatory management of acute COPD exacerbations.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to describe the different antibiotics that are used in the home management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations and to estimate the failure rates following the initiation of the antibiotic.


METHODS
A cohort study was conducted. Patients enrolled in a COPD home management program were included in the analysis. Failure rates were defined as an additional prescription of an antibiotic, an emergency room visit, or a hospitalization for a COPD exacerbation in the 30 days following the initiation of the antibiotic.


RESULTS
A total of 1180 episodes of antibiotic treatment were analyzed. Overall, 348 episodes led to a failure (29.5%). The most frequently used antibiotics were cefuroxime (45.9%) and ciprofloxacin (21.1%).


CONCLUSIONS
This project demonstrates that a wide range of antibiotics were prescribed to our population of COPD patients with a moderate to severe form of the disease. Many treatment failures (about 30%) occurred in the 30-day period following the initiation of the home therapy with an antibiotic. Clinicians should be aware of this high failure rate when managing mild exacerbations of COPD at home.
Beauchesne
Marie-France
MF
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada. marie-france.beauchesne@umontreal.ca
Julien
Marcel
M
Julien
Louis-André
LA
Piquette
Dominique
D
Forget
Amélie
A
Labrecque
Manon
M
Blais
Lucie
L
D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents