Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2015 , Vol 18, Issue 1
HOME NON-INVASIVE MECHANICAL VENTILATION THERAPY IN ELDERLY COPD PATIENTS
Onur TURAN, Can SEVİNÇ
Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Chest Diseases Ä°ZMÄ°R Introduction: Home non-invasive mechanical ventilation has been widely used in recent years as a treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure. We aimed to evaluate the use of home mechanical ventilation therapy in elderly patients.

Materials and Method: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with hypercapnic respiratory failure using home mechanical ventilation over age 65 were investigated cross-sectionally in Dokuz Eylul University Hospital between 2009-2011.

Results: The 31 patients (23 male and 8 female) had a mean age of 66.2±11.1.The most common application symptom was dyspnea; symptoms were found to regress in 63.4% of the group according to the Borg scale. Patients used mechanical ventilation for an average time of 4.6±3.9 h/day. 24 patients (77.4%) reported no problems with vehicle adherence. It was found that pH increased from 7.37 to 7.40 (p=0.07) and PaCO2 decreased from 64.3 mmHg to 50.1 mmHg (p<0.001) in a statistically significant way in arterial blood gas after mechanical ventilation therapy. Mean FEV1 value increased from 0.76 L to 0.80 L (% predicted from 31.6% to 32.2%).Emergency visits decreased from 1.6/year to 0.9/year, and a 1.3/year hospitalization rate decreased to 0.7/year after home mechanical ventilation therapy, both of which were statistically significant (p=0.044 and p=0.003, respectively).

Conclusion: Elderly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients on a home mechanical ventilation program were found to have good treatment adherence, reduction in dyspnea, decrease in acidosis and hypercapnia, functional improvement, and a lower number of emergency visits and hospitalizations. These results show that home mechanical ventilation treatment can provide medical benefits. Keywords : Pulmonary Disease; Chronic Obstructive; Aged; Respiration, Artificial