Inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) are widely used in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Since inflammatory processes play a key role in the pathogenesis of the disease and ICSs have been shown to be very effective in controlling asthma, their use in COPD patients has become widespread. However, their efficacy in COPD is more limited than in asthma, since the type of inflammation in COPD is predominantly neutrophilic and resistant to corticosteroids.

ICSs have not been shown to prevent disease progression or reduce mortality in clinical trials. By contrast, these agents reduce exacerbations and improve both symptoms and quality of life in selected patients, particularly those with bronchial reversibility. Since ICSs are not harmless drugs, clinicians should make every effort to distinguish patients who will benefit from ICS treatment from those who will not. Side effects of ICSs may be both local and systemic, with most of them being dose dependent.

A potential increase in the risk of pneumonia, diabetes, dysphonia or candiadiasis, among other complications, should be considered when prescribing these drugs in patients who usually have several comorbidities. Hence, it is important to identify those patients in whom the best risk-to-benefit ratio can be achieved and to use the most appropriate ICS dose with the least incidence of side effects.

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The main objectives in the management of chronic disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are: to suppress or minimize symptoms; to prevent and reduce exacerbations; to avoid limitations in activities of daily living, and thus to enable the patient to lead a normal, or nearly normal, life. COPD has become a serious public-health concern.

The disease, which may be life-threatening if not properly managed, often goes undiagnosed. COPD accounts for significant healthcare, social and personal costs, as it can cause disability and lead to marked impairment in patients’ quality of life. The primary goal in the management of COPD should be to maintain patients’ clinical stability so as to lessen the impact of the disease. This implies achieving an adequate patient control with as few limitations of everyday activities as possible. In an attempt to optimize their quality of life, patients should be symptom-free or virtually symptom-free. In addition, exacerbations, which involve a high consumption of both healthcare and personal resources, must be prevented. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death among men in Europe. As its prevalence is expected to increase, it might become the third cause of mortality by 2030. In Spain, COPD management has recently been reviewed in the Spanish COPD Guidelines (GesEPOC).

The COPD National Health System Strategy, developed by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality under the Quality Plan, aims at implementing a set of measures to improve both the efficacy and the quality of healthcare services for patients with COPD.

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With the publication of the new guidelines (The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 2011 and Guía Española de la COPD) on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the pharmacological treatment of this disease has changed substantially.

In this article, the evidence supporting the use of pharmacological groups in COPD is summarized and the place of each of these drugs among the new therapeutic strategies is established. Although short-acting bronchodilators have been used as maintenance therapy for COPD for many years, few clinical trials are available on the efficacy and safety of these agents, whose role was defined at the very early stages of treatment.

The introduction of long-acting bronchodilators, administered every 12 or 24 h, led to an increase in therapeutic effects and an improvement in both treatment adherence and dosage; therefore, both guidelines consider these drugs as the standard therapy for all types of patients and clinical phenotypes. The combination of long-acting bronchodilators from different families has been established as a new therapeutic approach for patients with persistent symptoms despite an appropriate bronchodilator treatment. Anti-inflammatory therapy with inhaled corticosteroids has been discussed at length, and is considered in the current guidelines as the treatment of choice in patients with a high risk of exacerbations associated with an impaired lung function or previous exacerbations, or presenting with phenotypes that are susceptible to the effect of corticosteroids.

Roflumilast is a novel drug with a clearly defined indication. Finally, further evidence about other therapies, such as antibiotics or mucolytics, is emerging that will help define their appropriate use in selected patients.

At present, pharmacological management of COPD is being re-evaluated. As long as we are able to apply the new treatment approaches to the clinical reality of our patients we will achieve greater benefits in both the short and the long term with a reduction in potential complications.

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