Abstract
Patients with chronic respiratory failure who are suffering from advanced stages of irreversible pulmonary lesions, often have little respiratory reserve capacity. Therefore, in such cases, management is very difficult once the condition being exacerbated.
In this study, a retrospective investigation was made into the management of acute exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure in 185 patients admitted to our ICU for 9 yeares from Jan. 1, 1980 to Dec. 31, 1988. These patients were characteristic in the following respects: they had been repeatedly admitted to our units; and many of them were suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis as in the past. With respect to relations to seasons, a marked tendency toward exacerbation was observed in winter and summer, while a high mortality was obtained in spring and fall. The mortality rate in patients with impaired consciousness on admission was high. Overall mortality rate was 10.8%. Introduction of minitracheotomy resulted in a slight decrease in mortality and a marked decrease in duration of necessary treatment in our unit.
