ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The conventional drugs to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) complicated with respiratory failure (RF) (COPD + RF) in western medicine include antibiotics, etc., but the patients have serious adverse reactions and are prone to drug resistance. This study aims to analyze the curative effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined with Western medicine (WM) in treating COPD + RF. METHODS: Randomized controlled studies on the treatment of COPD with RF were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and The Cochrane Library. Outcome measures were treatment efficiency, oxygen partial pressure (PO2), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2), and pulmonary function [forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)%]. The Cochrane Reviewer's Handbook 4.2.5 was adopted for quality assessment of studies, and the data was analyzed using RevMan 5.3. RESULTS: Seven suitable articles were selected, including 490 patients. The literature quality met the requirements of this article, and there was no obvious publication bias. The effective rate of patients in the combined TCM and WM treatment group and control group (WM treatment) was analyzed as odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI): 5.40 (3.14 to 9.29)], and statistically tested as Z=6.09 (P<0.00001). The analysis structure of PO2 after treatment was mean difference (MD) (95% CI): 5.92 (2.27 to 9.56), and the statistical analysis suggested Z=3.18, P=0.001. The analysis of PCO2 after treatment was MD (95% CI): -4.53 (-7.14 to -1.92), and Z=3.40, P=0.0007. The analysis structure of lung function index data was MD (95% CI): 8.16 (2.57 to 13.75), and Z=2.86 (P=0.004). DISCUSSION: The TCM combined with WM can effectively treat the symptoms related to COPD; the treatment efficiency is significantly improved compared with traditional WM; and the PO2, PCO2, and lung function (FEV1%) are improved for sure after treatment. Data of this study show that the combined treatment of TCM and WM has a good therapeutic effect on the acute exacerbation of COPD complicated with RF, which is worthy of clinical application. However, the included outcome indexes in this study were not sufficient, and the sample size and outcome indexes should be further expanded in the future.