Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Treatment

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Treatment
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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Treatment
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a serious chronic lung disorder that causes difficulties in breathing. Unfortunately, there are no drug therapies that decrease the risk of death among patients with COPD, but various medications can manage symptoms and treat COPD exacerbations (Jenkins, 2017). This paper discusses the most suitable drug therapies for a 31-year-old woman with a history of COPD who comes to the clinic with shortness of breath and cough.
I would prescribe an albuterol/ipratropium inhaler and an ipratropium bromide/albuterol MDI as the first-line therapy. Ipratropium and albuterol are short-acting bronchodilators. COPD is a complex condition, and combination therapy, rather than a mono-therapy, is preferred. According to Van Geffen et al. (2020), the use of combination therapy of salbutamol and ipratropium in treating COPD had been found to reduce shortness of breath when the patient is experiencing COPD exacerbation. Further, this combination has a quicker onset of action when compared to long-acting dual bronchodilator therapy. Therefore, I expect the patient to experience reduced shortness of breath within the first 30 minutes after drug administration.
Second-line therapies are selected based on how the patient is responding (Jenkins, 2017). If the patient continues to experience COPD symptoms without much relief even after receiving the above-combined therapy, I will prescribe long-acting bronchodilators as the second-line therapy. According to Arulrhaj (2017), long-acting anti-muscarinic and long-acting beta-agonists are the main agents used as second-line treatments for COPD. Specifically, I would use salmeterol/aclidinium bromide as the second-line therapy. As Blasi et al. (2017) reveal, long-acting bronchodilators effectively improve COPD symptoms and decrease the obstruction of airflow.
One of the parameters I would use to determine the success of the therapy is lung function. According to Blasi et al. (2017), when a therapy is successful, patients with COPD experience improved lung function. Therefore, if the drug therapy is working, the patient should inhale and exhale more air. Other parameters would include improved symptoms after the drug has been administered. If none of the symptoms has improved, especially within the first 24 hours of drug administration, I would consider the therapy unsuccessful.
Specific patient education would include a discussion about the prescribed drugs and how they are e...