Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDefinitionSymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatmentPrevention
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Definition
Symptoms
Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
When you experience a COPD exacerbation, you may need to use rapid-acting treatment, such as abronchodilator inhaler. Sometimes, a COPD exacerbation requires urgent medical care or hospitalization.
While exacerbations are often treatable, they can be dangerous. Having too many exacerbations worsens COPD. Preventing COPD flare-ups is an important part of living with this disease.
This article covers what a COPD exacerbation is, what the COPD flare-up symptoms are, what causes a flare-up, and how COPD exacerbations are diagnosed. You’ll learn not only how to treat COPD exacerbations, but also how to prevent them.
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What Is a COPD Exacerbation?
A COPD exacerbation is a sudden worsening of COPD symptoms. Paying attention to how you feel on a “normal” day can help you recognize when a flare-up starts.
Treating flare-ups as soon as they appear is important. Early treatment can shorten the length of the exacerbation and prevent the flare-up from becoming severe.
COPD exacerbations are usually associated with a sense of distress, and the effects are more severe than the symptoms you normally experience when your condition is under control.
What are COPD Flare-Up Symptoms?
Some people rarely experience COPD exacerbations, while others have frequent episodes. You may experienceCOPD symptomslike fatigue, wheezing, and exercise intolerance on a regular basis—or even every day.
Symptoms of a COPD exacerbation may include:
The symptoms of a COPD exacerbation can show up very quickly. You may notice them within hours or days.
If your medical team has already given you instructions on how to manage mild COPD exacerbations at home, be sure to initiate treatment without delay. If you experience new symptoms or have not been specifically guided on how to handle symptoms on your own, get prompt medical attention.
Sometimes, COPD exacerbations worsen gradually over a few days, but they can also seem very sudden, worsening within a few hours—even becoming fatal. It is important that you seek medical attention when you experience these symptoms.
Causes of COPD Exacerbations
COPD is often described as an obstructive pulmonary disease. This is because thebronchi(airways) are partially blocked due to mucus, inflammation, and lung damage.
When your lungs are already damaged from COPD, anything that furthers inflammation and mucus can challenge already compromised airways, constricting them and making it more difficult to breathe than usual.
Some of the factors that can lead to an exacerbation include:
While anyone who has COPD can experience exacerbations, you are more likely to experience these episodes if you smoke, if you have severe COPD, and if you are not consistently using your medication.
Stress, fatigue,lack of nutrition, and sleep deprivation can all make you prone to infections and COPD exacerbations as well. It’s also possible to have a flare-up without a precipitating factor.
How Are COPD Exacerbations Diagnosed?
A COPD exacerbation is often diagnosed based on the symptoms of worsening chest tightness and shortness of breath.Your medical team may give you instructions regarding when to use medication for a COPD exacerbation.
You may be advised to count your breaths per minute or check your own oxygen level at home with apulse oximeter. However, if your oxygen is normal but you still feel respiratory distress, your healthcare provider may recommend that you use your at-home treatment.
In a medical care setting, you may have several tests to confirm a COPD exacerbation and to look for a cause.Diagnostic tests that you may need include:
How to Stop a COPD Exacerbation
Because COPD can differ from one individual to the next, you need to work with your healthcare provider to design a treatment plan appropriate to your condition and lifestyle.You might be able to manage your exacerbations withrescue bronchodilators, inhaled steroids, and/or oxygen supplementation at home.
Bronchodilator or Steroid Inhaler: Which Should Be Used First?
Urgent Care
There are cases, however, when COPD exacerbations can severely inhibit your breathing. When this happens, you might need emergency treatment in a hospital setting.
Interventions often used in the treatment of a severe COPD exacerbation include:
Mechanical ventilation is a temporary intervention. You will be unable to speak while you are intubated, and your oxygen and carbon dioxide levels will be carefully monitored so your medical team can determine when it is safe to remove the breathing tube from your windpipe.
Antibiotics
If you have a bacterial lung infection, you will needantibiotics. These are prescription medications that kill bacteria. However, they are not effective for the treatment of viral or fungal lung infections. Viral infections usually improve without antimicrobial treatment and fungal infections are treated with antifungal therapy.
If your healthcare provider prescribes an antibiotic for you, your symptoms may improve before your prescription is finished. Nevertheless, finish your whole dose so that you will not have a recurrence of a partially treated infection within a few weeks.
How to Prevent COPD Exacerbations
Prevention is important if you are at risk of COPD exacerbations. Lifestyle strategies and medications can reduce infections and exposure to inhaled irritants.Taking your COPD medications can optimize your lung function, making you less susceptible to the effects of lung inflammation and mucus accumulation.
Preventative strategies you can use to avoid a COPD exacerbation include:
Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Many people who have COPD can benefit from supervised rehabilitative techniques that includebreathing exercises,pulmonary hygiene, and a physical exercise routine. You might also be advised to use pulmonary exercise equipment in your home.
The idea of pulmonary rehabilitation is to maintain physical and pulmonary conditioning. This can optimize your lung function to prevent a decline in your respiratory abilities.
Summary
A COPD exacerbation is a sudden worsening of COPD symptoms. COPD flare-up symptoms may include shortness of breath, chest tightness, and more difficulty breathing than normal. Severe COPD exacerbations require emergency medical treatment.
COPD exacerbations can be treated and prevented. Talk to your healthcare provider if you’re having flare-ups. Diagnostic tests can help providers determine the cause so you can get the right treatment. Implement healthy lifestyle strategies to get maximum benefits and help prevent flare-ups.
3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Thoracic Society.Patient education | information series: exacerbation of COPD.Dobler CC, Morrow AS, Farah MH, Beuschel B, Majzoub AM, Wilson ME, et al.Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies in adult patients with exacerbation of COPD: A systematic review[Internet].Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2019 Oct. Report No.: 19(20)-EHC024-EF.AHRQ Comparative Effectiveness Reviews.Ko FW, Chan KP, Hui DS, et al.Acute exacerbation of COPD.Respirology. 2016;21(7):1152-65. doi:10.1111/resp.12780
3 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Thoracic Society.Patient education | information series: exacerbation of COPD.Dobler CC, Morrow AS, Farah MH, Beuschel B, Majzoub AM, Wilson ME, et al.Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies in adult patients with exacerbation of COPD: A systematic review[Internet].Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2019 Oct. Report No.: 19(20)-EHC024-EF.AHRQ Comparative Effectiveness Reviews.Ko FW, Chan KP, Hui DS, et al.Acute exacerbation of COPD.Respirology. 2016;21(7):1152-65. doi:10.1111/resp.12780
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Thoracic Society.Patient education | information series: exacerbation of COPD.Dobler CC, Morrow AS, Farah MH, Beuschel B, Majzoub AM, Wilson ME, et al.Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies in adult patients with exacerbation of COPD: A systematic review[Internet].Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2019 Oct. Report No.: 19(20)-EHC024-EF.AHRQ Comparative Effectiveness Reviews.Ko FW, Chan KP, Hui DS, et al.Acute exacerbation of COPD.Respirology. 2016;21(7):1152-65. doi:10.1111/resp.12780
American Thoracic Society.Patient education | information series: exacerbation of COPD.
Dobler CC, Morrow AS, Farah MH, Beuschel B, Majzoub AM, Wilson ME, et al.Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies in adult patients with exacerbation of COPD: A systematic review[Internet].Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2019 Oct. Report No.: 19(20)-EHC024-EF.AHRQ Comparative Effectiveness Reviews.
Ko FW, Chan KP, Hui DS, et al.Acute exacerbation of COPD.Respirology. 2016;21(7):1152-65. doi:10.1111/resp.12780
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