2021 Guideline for the Management of COPD Exacerbations: Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey (EMAT) / Turkish Thoracic Society (TTS) Clinical Practice Guideline Task Force

Use of infection biomarkers in the emergency department

“…[ 26 ] Although the national COPD exacerbation management guideline does not recommend the routine use of PCT, it has been stated that PCT-guided treatment can shorten the duration of antibiotic use and reduce the rate of re-admissions. [ 27 ] However, contrary to these results, PCT did not affect antibiotic initiation in a randomized controlled trial in patients with lower respiratory tract infection (34.1% vs. 38.7%, −4.6 [−12.2–3], noninferiority margin: 4.5). This was associated with a limited PCT effect due to possible parallelism between low PCT and clinical findings.…”

The predictive value of modified risk scores in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD: a retrospective cohort study

“…Patients diagnosed with AECOPD between study dates were re-evaluated by the researchers. The international and national organizations’ diagnosis criteria were followed for the selection of the patients [ 1 , 2 ]. Patients who did not meet the diagnostic criteria for AECOPD were excluded from the study.…”

“…Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the top three causes of death worldwide, and 90% of deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries [ 1 ]. It is the fourth most common cause of mortality in Turkey [ 2 ]. Many people around the world live with the risk of morbidity and mortality caused by this disease.…”

“…Acute exacerbations are directly associated with mortality in COPD patients [ 5 ]. Besides, AECOPD has a negative effect on the quality of life, admission and readmission rates, and disease progression [ 1 , 2 , 6 ]. For these reasons, appropriate management of acute exacerbations is recommended by national and international organizations [ 1 , 2 ].…”

“…The majority of the AECOPD patients were presented to the emergency departments (EDs), and most of them were discharged after appropriate treatment [ 2 ]. Deciding on admission or discharge of AECOPD patients is challenging for emergency physicians.…”