TY - JOUR T1 - Doxycycline for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in outpatients: who benefits? JF - ERJ Open Research JO - erjor DO - 10.1183/23120541.00099-2020 VL - 6 IS - 2 SP - 00099-2020 AU - Patricia van Velzen AU - Gerben ter Riet AU - Paul Brinkman AU - Peter J. Sterk AU - Jan M. Prins A2 - , Y1 - 2020/04/01 UR - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/6/2/00099-2020.abstract N2 - Most patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience exacerbations [1]. >80% of the exacerbations are treated ambulatorily. Treatment consists of inhaled bronchodilator therapy and oral corticosteroids, whereas the contribution of antibiotics is less clear. A meta-analysis [2] recently reported less treatment failure within 4 weeks in outpatient exacerbations treated with antibiotics: 21.2% in the group treated with antibiotics versus 29.2% in the placebo group. This means that 12–13 patients must be treated with antibiotics to prevent one treatment failure (number needed to treat: 12.5).No clinical characteristics, particularly not sputum characteristics, can guide antibiotic prescription in patients with mild to severe COPD exacerbations https://bit.ly/3e1JV8o ER -