Acute exacerbation of COPD will lead to a progressive decline in lung function, accelerate disease progression and increase the risk of death. It can be said that each acute exacerbation of COPD is a "sorrowful Kaner" for the patient, so identifying acute exacerbation of COPD and distinguishing it from other similar diseases as early as possible is particularly important for COPD patients.

　　What is the acute exacerbation of COPD?

　　According to the course of COPD, we can divide COPD into stable phase and acute exacerbation phase.

　　Stable period: refers to the patient’s cough, sputum, and shortness of breath, which are relatively stable or mild;

　　Acute exacerbation period: refers to the above-mentioned daily changes in the patient’s symptoms and the existence of Continued deterioration, the need to change the drug treatment program, patients often have short-term cough, sputum, shortness of breath and (or) wheezing increased, increased sputum volume, purulent or mucopurulent sputum, may be accompanied by fever and other inflammation significantly increased performance.

　　The main reason for the acute exacerbation of COPD is infection and air pollution, in which infection accounts for 50%-70%, but about 1/3 of patients cannot find the cause even if they look carefully.

　　How to recognize the acute exacerbation of COPD in time?

　　In simple terms, the acute exacerbation of COPD is the main symptoms of COPD, such as cough, sputum, and shortness of breath (dyspnea) ) Waiting for a significant increase in the short term. Some people think that acute exacerbation is a syndrome characterized by a degree of dyspnea beyond the usual steady state, and regular medication or increased conventional drug treatment is ineffective. In addition, some people divide the symptoms of the patient into primary symptoms and secondary symptoms. If any of the main symptoms such as dyspnea, purulent sputum and increased sputum volume continue for more than 2 days, or any one of the symptoms is worsened with wheezing, Secondary symptoms such as sore throat, cough and common cold can be judged as acute exacerbation.

What diseases need to be distinguished from acute exacerbation of COPD?

　　Clinical treatment of 10%-30% of patients with acute exacerbations of acute exacerbation is poor, for these Patients should re-evaluate whether there are other diseases that are easily confused with acute exacerbation of COPD, such as pneumonia, congestive heart failure, pneumothorax, pleural effusion, pulmonary embolism, and arrhythmia. Some commonly used examination methods such as lung function examination, arterial blood gas analysis, X-ray film, electrocardiogram, blood biochemical examination, etc. can assist in identification.