Benefit/risk ratio profile of single inhaler triple therapy for сhronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with significant healthcare and socioeconomic burden. International guidelines recommend a personalized approach to treatment and management that aims to reduce symptom burden and exacerbation risk. Numerous recently published clinical trials have investigated efficacy and safety of single-inhaler triple therapy (SITT) with a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), long-acting β2-agonist (LABA), and an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) for patients with COPD.Aim of the publication: to review the findings of randomized controlled trials that showed the benefit of single-inhaler triple therapy and compare this benefit with the known risk of pneumonia associated with ICSs.Conclusion. The key benefits reported with SITT are significant reductions in exacerbations and hospitalizations; the trials also suggest reduced all-cause mortality. The benefits of SITT outweigh the known risk of pneumonia with ICS use that is reported as the class-effect in COPD patients.