Patients taking muscle relaxants at elevated risk of COPD exacerbation, unravels research

The first day that a patient met all the chosen criteria, such as receiving a diagnosis of COPD and starting a medicine of interest, was considered the index event for that patient. Analysis did not include patients whose results occurred prior to the study timeframe. In order to account for demographic factors and ten different organ system illnesses, including the ones affecting the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, the study used propensity score matching. Following propensity score matching, there were 399,886 people in Group A and 429,743 people in Group B.

COPD exacerbation occurred in 21,922 (5.482%) of Group A patients at 1-year follow-up, while it occurred in 21,513 (5.006%) of Group B patients, representing a 9.5% relative risk increase. At 3- and 5-year follow-ups, the risk gradually rose to 17.6% and 20.2%, respectively. At the 1-, 3-, and 5-year follow-up periods, the relative risk increase for COPD exacerbations was 9.5%, 17.6%, and 20.2% for patients on cyclobenzaprine or methocarbamol, respectively.

The warning range for the use of central nervous system depressing medicines among patients with COPD is expanded by the possibility of an increased risk of exacerbation linked to the use of routinely prescribed muscle relaxant pharmaceuticals. Thereby, physicians should weigh the possible danger of exacerbating COPD against the purported therapeutic advantages of these muscle relaxants. Alternative forms of therapy have to be taken into account.

Reference:

LEMONJAVA, I., GUDUSHAURI, N., MARTINEZ MANZANO, J. M., & AZMAIPARASHVILI, Z. (2024). EXPLORING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ELEVATED COPD EXACERBATION RISK AND COMMONLY PRESCRIBED MUSCLE RELAXANTS. In CHEST (Vol. 166, Issue 4, p. A4691). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2024.06.2827