The effect of airway suction nursing care for COPD patients with airway mucus hypersecretion

Objective: To study the effect of airway suction nursing care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and airway mucus hypersecretion. Methods: A total of 116 COPD patients with airway mucus hypersecretion were recruited and divided into the control group and the observation group by a random number table method, with 58 cases in each group. The patients in the control group received conventional treatment and nursing care. In addition to the treatment given to the control group, the patients in the observation group were also given special airway suction nursing, which mainly included "wet, patting, drainage, turning". The total effective rates of the airway suction nursing, length of hospital stay, COPD assessment test (CAT) scores, nursing satisfaction scores, arterial blood gas indexes, lung function indexes and serum inflammatory factor levels before and after treatment were compared. Results: Compared to the control group, the observation group had significantly higher total effective treatment rate (98.28% vs 84.48%), arterial blood oxygen partial pressure PO2 and oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO(2)), and significantly lower arterial blood carbon dioxide partial pressure PCO2 (all P<0.05). The lung function indicators in the observation group were significantly higher than that in the control group (all P<0.001). Serum procalcitonin, hypersensitive C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-a levels as well as the hospital stay and CAT score in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P<0.001). Conclusion: Special airway suction nursing can significantly improve the quality of sputum discharge in COPD patients with airway mucus hypersecretion, enhance the quality of lung ventilation, improve the arterial blood gas, reduce the body's inflammatory response and accelerate the recovery of patients. Therefore, it is worthwhile to promote the application of airway suction nursing care in clinic.