[May a COPD patient benefit from rehabilitation associated with pharmacological treatment?]

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are known to be physically inactive due to exertion dyspnea. Improvement of physical capacity leads to reduction of symptoms severity, increases PFT values, decreases the number of infectious exacerbations and, generally, improves the quality of life and prognosis. Therefore rehabilitation plays a crucial role in the treatment of COPD patients. It has been demonstrated that the use of bronchodilating drugs prior to physical exertion enables rehabilitation by diminishing the shortness of breath.