Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation to treat respiratory failure resulting from exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis

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 PaCO 2 >6 kPa.

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)), PaCO 2 (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)).