[Analysis of the Cochrane Review: Use of systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014, 9:CD001288].

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are a major cause of hospital admissions and mortality, contributing to the decline in lung function, exercise capacity and quality of life. Infections are the major cause of exacerbations and treatment includes antibiotics, bronchodilators and systemic corticosteroids as anti- inflammatory agents. This Cochrane review compared: 1. use of oral and parenteral corticosteroids with placebo use; 2. routes of administration among themselves. The results indicate that there is evidence for the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations since early improvement in lung function [assessed by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)] has been noted, the likelihood of treatment failure and relapse in the first month has been reduced and it shortens the hospital stay in patients who do not require intensive care regimen. However, corticosteroid therapy causes an increase in adverse effects associated with drug, namely hyperglycaemia, especially if the route of administration is parenteral. Parenteral route has not shown to be superior to oral route in treatment failure, relapse, or death. Mortality up to 30 days does not seem to be affected by the use of corticosteroids.