‘Non-invasive Ventilation is effective for COPD’

Expert says NIV is very effective in reducing the CO2 levels in the blood of patients. Non-invasive Ventilation (NIV) in which breathing is assisted with the help of an airtight face or nose mask is seen as the first-line of therapy in the West.

Pulmonologist, Vivek Nangia.

Winter is the most difficult and dangerous season for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, asthma and other such respiratory diseases.

Many of the patients end up needing mechanical ventilation. This involves machines called ventilators which mechanically assist or replace spontaneous breathing. Mechanical ventilation is often invasive because it involves the placing of an endotracheal tube that goes right to the lungs through the mouth. Sometimes tracheostomy, puncturing of skin and windpipe, is done to send the tube right to the lungs.

Invasive methods are being seen as a last resort both by the specialists and the patients. Invasive ventilation is often associated with several complications, specifically injury to the larynx and trachea (windpipe), as well as other issues involving preservation of speech and the ability to continue swallowing.

Non-invasive Ventilation (NIV) in which breathing is assisted with the help of an airtight face or nose mask is seen as the first-line of therapy in the West.

Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, Pulmonology Department director and head Vivek Nangia said that NIV was very effective in reducing the carbon-dioxide levels in the blood of patients suffering from chronic respiratory diseases. NIVs were smaller and simpler machines that could also be used by patients at their homes. The mortality of COPD patients who used NIVs were reduced by a third (33.33 per cent), he said. Asked about the cost he said that it worked out less because there was a reduction in the episodes of hospitalisation. ResMed and Philips were companies that were making NIVs available in the country.

COPD was the leading killer, next only to heart diseases, and as a chronic disease it accrued vast number of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). India suffered among the highest number of DALYs due to COPD.

Despite the benefit, awareness of NIV was low in the country and it was being prescribed to just a tenth of the COPD patients.