Table 4

National- and international guidelines: corticosteroid treatment in case of COPD exacerbation

Guideline

Recommendation

NHG- guideline COPD 2007

• Prednisolone 30 mg once a day for 7-14 days.

CBO guideline 2010:

Diagnostics and treatment of COPD

• Prednisolone 30 mg once a day for 7-14 days.

• Prefer oral prednisolone treatment.

• Blood sugar check for patients with diabetes.

GOLD guideline 2009 'Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease'

• Prednisolone 30-40 mg once a day for 7-10 days for patients with FEV1 < 50%

• Budesonide, whether or not combined with formoterol may be an alternative to prednisolone treatment.

• Prefer oral prednisolone treatment

ATS/ERS guideline 2004 'Standards for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with COPD'

• 30-40 mg prednisolone once a day for 10 days.

• Consider corticosteroid inhalation therapy.

Nice guideline 2010: 'Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults in primary and secondary care'.

• Prednisolone 30 mg once a day for 7-14 days.

de Vries et al. BMC Family Practice 2012 13:3   doi:10.1186/1471-2296-13-3