Introduction:

the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is under diagnosed and shows a high morbimortality. It is the fifth cause of death in Cuba. It is a frequent cause of admission in the Intensive Care Unit of the Teaching General Hospital “Julio M. Aristegui” of Cardenas, province of Matanzas, with an unfavorable evolution extending the staying and increasing mortality.

Objective:

to determine this disease behaviour in an intensive care unit.

Materials and methods:

a retrospective, longitudinal, descriptive study was carried out in the Intensive Care Unit of the General Teaching Hospital “Julio Aristegui” of Cardenas during the period January 2015- December 2016. The universe was the patients admitted due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The studied variables were sex, age, risk factors, diagnosis at the admission, complications, staying, and destination at discharge.

Results:

the 65-74 years-old age group and male sex predominated. The most significant risk factor was tobacco smoking. Staying and number of days under ventilation were 20-30 days. Most of the patients died in the Intensive Care Unit.

Conclusions:

the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, due to its risk factors and complications, leads to the hospital care of the patient in intensive care units.

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