Placebo Versus Antibiotics in Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Summary

The role of antibiotic therapy in patients with COPD remains controversial. While the outcome of several clinical trials is in favour of antibiotics, the quality of these studies in insufficient. In this study the efficacy of doxycycline is compared to placebo. All concommitant treatment (steroids, bronchodilator therapy, physiotherapy) is standardized. The investigators hypothesize that patients with an acute exacerbations will have a better outcome when treated with antibiotics.

Timeline

Start

2002-07

Primary completion

2008-08

Completion

2008-08

Publications

• Daniels JM, Schoorl M, Snijders D, Knol DL, Lutter R, Jansen HM, Boersma WG. Procalcitonin vs C-reactive protein as predictive markers of response to antibiotic therapy in acute exacerbations of COPD. Chest. 2010 Nov;138(5):1108-15. doi: 10.1378/chest.09-2927. Epub 2010 Jun 24.
• Daniels JM, Snijders D, de Graaff CS, Vlaspolder F, Jansen HM, Boersma WG. Antibiotics in addition to systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010 Jan 15;181(2):150-7. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200906-0837OC. Epub 2009 Oct 29.

Drugs

Indications