Outpatient Oral Prednisone after Emergency Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The optimal approach to the treatment of patients who are discharged from the emergency room after an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is not known. This study compared the patients' usual medications and antibiotics with those medications plus 10 days of prednisone at a dose of 40 mg per day. Patients receiving the corticosteroid had fewer relapses and better lung function than those receiving placebo. A benefit of corticosteroid treatment after an exacerbation. Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are a common cause of visits to the emergency department. 1 , 2 Although many patients with COPD are ultimately admitted, a substantial percentage are discharged and treated as outpatients. However, currently, relapse after treatment of an acute exacerbation of COPD in the emergency department cannot be reliably predicted. 2 – 4 The results of two randomized trials suggest that systemic corticosteroids prevent treatment failure and shorten the hospital stay of patients who are hospitalized for an exacerbation of COPD. 5 , 6 However, one of these inpatient studies suggested that the benefits of oral corticosteroids did not extend . . .