Clinical management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with muscle dysfunction

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex and highly prevalent disorder. Its clinical presentation is very heterogeneous being characterized not only by pulmonary involvement but by many different systemic manifestations and comorbidities (1-3). Probably one of the most common and best studied systemic manifestations of COPD is muscle dysfunction, which is also frequently associated with nutritional abnormalities. Muscle dysfunction affects both respiratory and limb muscles, having important consequences on the quality of life and prognosis of COPD patients (4,5). In a previous review different physiological and pathophysiological aspects related to COPD muscle dysfunction, as well as those factors and mechanisms involved in its occurrence were analyzed in depth (6). The present review aims to describe the diagnostic methods most frequently employed in the clinical setting as well as those treatments that can be used for muscle dysfunction in COPD patients