COPD review
The review that checks the things that change outcomes before it checks the inhaler, and asks the oxygen and palliative questions on time.
- 1MRC dyspnoea scale
- 2previously
- 3CAT score
- 4previously
- 5Exacerbations treated at home
- 6Exacerbations needing admission
- 7Any ventilatory support
- 8Exercise tolerance
- 9Current inhalers
- 10Inhaler technique observed today
- 11Prescription collections in the last 12…
- 12Rescue pack
- 13Nebuliser or home oxygen
- 14Mucolytic
- 15Smoking status
- 16Very brief advice and treatment offered
and 22 more, in the block below.
COPD review. Since last seen: MRC dyspnoea scale [1 to 5], previously [] CAT score [], previously [] Exacerbations treated at home: [] Exacerbations needing admission: [] Any ventilatory support: [] Exercise tolerance: [metres on the flat] Treatment: Current inhalers: [drug, device, dose, doses per day] Inhaler technique observed today: [adequate, or the specific error seen] Prescription collections in the last 12 months: [] Rescue pack: [held, used how many times, and appropriately or not] Nebuliser or home oxygen: [] Mucolytic: [] Fundamentals: Smoking status: [current with pack-years, or ex with quit date] Very brief advice and treatment offered: [] Pulmonary rehabilitation: [completed and when, on the waiting list, declined, or due a repeat] Vaccination: [influenza, pneumococcal, COVID-19, RSV] Physical activity: [] Weight [] kg, BMI [], any unintentional weight loss [] Anxiety or depression screened: [] Measurements: SpO2 []% on air, at rest Post-bronchodilator FEV1 [] L ([]% predicted) Blood eosinophils [] x10^9/L [walk test result if done] Assessments due: Long-term oxygen assessment indicated: [yes if resting SpO2 92% or less on air when stable, or no] Referral for lung volume reduction or valve assessment considered: [yes or no] Alpha-1 antitrypsin checked at least once: [yes or no] Anticipatory care and treatment escalation discussed: [yes or not yet] Impression: [stable, deteriorating, or frequent exacerbator], MRC [], FEV1 []% predicted, [] exacerbations in the last 12 months. Plan: 1. [] 2. Self-management plan reviewed and reissued: [] 3. Review in [] months, and sooner if [specific trigger to come back]
How to use it
Frequent exacerbations are the finding that should change the consultation: two or more treated in the year, or one needing admission, moves someone into the group where escalation of inhaled treatment, a rescue pack, and a serious look for bronchiectasis and cardiac disease all become reasonable. Use the blood eosinophil count when deciding about inhaled corticosteroid rather than adding it by reflex, and remember the pneumonia signal that comes with it. Ask the oxygen question by measuring saturation when the person is stable — home oxygen prescribed off an exacerbation reading is common and wrong, and oxygen given for breathlessness without hypoxaemia does not improve survival or symptoms. The anticipatory care line is deliberately on the routine template: the conversation goes far better in a stable outpatient clinic than at two in the morning in resus.
Why it says that
None of this is in the copied text. It is here so you can check the block against its source, and change it when the source changes.
- NICE NG115 - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in over 16s Review content, the criteria for referral for oxygen assessment, and the recommendation not to offer long-term oxygen to treat breathlessness in people who are not hypoxaemic.
- GOLD report - Global Strategy for Prevention, Diagnosis and Management of COPD Escalation on exacerbations rather than FEV1, and blood eosinophils to guide inhaled corticosteroid: add it at counts of 300 cells per microlitre and above, consider it at 100 and above in people still exacerbating on dual bronchodilation.
- BTS guideline for home oxygen use in adults Assess when clinically stable, on two occasions at least three weeks apart, not during or shortly after an exacerbation.
- BTS quality standards for pulmonary rehabilitation Repeat programmes are appropriate; one course completed five years ago is not a reason to leave the box ticked forever.
Trials behind it
- REDOX 2024 24 hours a day of oxygen was no better than 15 in severe hypoxaemia
- ETHOS 2020 Triple therapy beat both dual therapies, and the lower steroid dose worked as well as the higher
- IMPACT 2018 Triple therapy reduced exacerbations versus either dual therapy, at the cost of more pneumonia
- FLAME 2016 Dual bronchodilation beat LABA/ICS for exacerbation prevention, with less pneumonia
- LOTT 2016 Oxygen for moderate desaturation did nothing for survival, admissions, or quality of life
- MRC oxygen 1981 Domiciliary oxygen for at least 15 hours a day improved survival in hypoxaemic cor pulmonale
- NOTT 1980 Continuous oxygen halved mortality compared with nocturnal-only oxygen in hypoxaemic COPD
Records on respiratorytrials.org.