Abstract:Objective To investigate the clinical value of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in the treatment of elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) complicated by severe pneumonia and its effects on the prognosis.Methods A total of 118 elderly COPD patients with severe pneumonia admitted to the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Yongkang First People's Hospital from January 2017 to January 2020 were selected and divided into control group and observation group according to random number table method, with 59 cases in each group. Patients in the control group were given conventional treatment, and patients in the observation group were treated with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) on the basis of the control group. The time to symptom disappearance, duration of antibiotic use, length of hospital stay, blood oxygen parameters, clinical efficacy and mortality were compared between the two groups.Results The time to symptom disappearance, duration of antibiotic use and length of hospital stay of the observation group were shorter than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The difference of pH value before and after treatment in the observation group did not differ from that in the control group (P > 0.05). The differences of partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2), oxygen saturation (SpO2), and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) before and after treatment were higher in the observation group than in the control group (P < 0.05). The clinical efficacy of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05), while the mortality of the observation group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05).Conclusions The application of BAL in elderly patients with COPD and severe pneumonia can effectively shorten the time to symptom disappearance, duration of antibiotic use, and length of hospital stay. Besides, it enhances blood circulation in the lungs, and improves the prognosis and survival rate of patients.