Objective To observe the clinical effect of recombinant human growth hormone on mechanical ventilation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD) patients complicated with respiratory failure .Methods 31 COPD patients complicated with respiratory failure were randomly divided into rhGH treatment group and control group .All the patients were given antibiotics ,expectorants ,bronchodilators ,glucocorticoid and nutritional support ther-apy.The treatment group was given subcutaneous injection of rhGH ,9u/d,7~14d.The plasma-albumin,prealbumin, ureanitrogen,creatinine,GOT,dailyaveragebloodglucose ,lymphocytecount,C-reactiveprotein,tionofmechanical ventilation,ICU stays were observed pretherapy and post-treatment.Results The plasma total protein,plasma-albu-min,prealbumin,lymphocyte count of the treatment group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05),(60.3 ±12.8)g/L vs (55.6 ±10.7 )g/L,(38.5 ±5.4)g/L vs (34.6 ±3.6)g/L,(2.3 ±0.2)g/L vs (2.0 ±0.1)g/L,(1.15 ±0.17) ×109/L vs (1.02 ±0.18μ) ×109/L respectively,while C-reactive protein in the treatment group was significantly lower than control group [(8.4 ±3.7)mg/L vs (12.5 ±2.4 )mg/L](P<0.05), blood glucose in the treatment group was slightly higher than control group (6.9 ±1.1) mmol/L vs (6.5 ±0.8 ) mmol/L(P<0.05),the duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay time in the treatment group were shorter than those in control group [(13.2 ±3.2)days vs (16.8 ±3.7)days,(17.2 ±2.5)days vs (21.8 ±2.7)days].Conclu-sion Recombinant human growth hormone could help in shortening duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stays for COPD patients complicated with respiratory failure .