Trial to Study Intubation Rates of Non-invasive Ventilation Using Pressure Support Ventilation (PSV) Versus Adaptive Support Ventilation (ASV) Mode in Patients With Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The clinical course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with recurrent episodes of exacerbation that results in respiratory failure. The treatment of respiratory failure is supportive and involves inhalation bronchodilators along with systemic steroids. In few cases the management of acute respiratory failure requires positive pressure ventilation (non-invasive or invasive). The use of NIV in acute exacerbation of COPD has resulted in significant reduction in morbidity and mortality. Although pressure support ventilation (PSV) allows the patient to influence the breathing pattern, ventilator-cycling criteria may worsen the patient-ventilator interaction, and severe asynchronies occur in up to 43% of patients undergoing NIV for ARF. Adaptive support ventilation (ASV) is a newer mode of ventilation that incorporates feedback mechanisms and thus provides a stable minute ventilation. We hypothesize that the use of ASV as a mode during ventilation using NIV in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD may result in reducing the duration of ventilatory support, need for intubation, and duration of intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital length of stay, when compared with PSV mode of NIV ventilation.