Objective To explore the effects of enteral tube feeding on moderate AECOPD patients who underwent noninvasive positive pressure ventilation ( NPPV) . Methods Sixty moderate AECOPD patients with NPPV admitted from January 2009 to April 2011 were recruited for the study. They were randomly divided into an enteral tube feeding group (n=30) received enteral tube feeding therapy, and an oral feeding group (n=30) received oral feeding therapy. Everyday nutrition intake and accumulative total nutrition intake in 7 days, plasma level of prealbumin and transferrin, success rate of weaning, duration of mechanical ventilation, length of ICU stay, rate of trachea cannula, and mortality rate in 28 days were compared between the two groups. Results Compared with the oral feeding group, the everyday nutrition intake and accumulative total nutrition intake in 7 days obviously increased (Plt;0.05) , while the plasma prealbumin [ ( 258.4 ±16.5) mg/L vs. (146.7±21.6) mg/L] and transferrin [ ( 2.8 ±0.6) g/L vs. ( 1.7 ±0.3) g/L] also increased significantly after 7 days in the enteral tube feeding group( Plt;0.05) . The success rate of weaning ( 83.3% vs. 70.0%) , the duration of mechanical ventilation [ 5. 6( 3. 2-8. 6) days vs. 8. 4( 4. 1-12. 3) days] , the length of ICU stay [ 9. 2( 7. 4-11. 8) days vs. 13. 6( 8.3-17. 2) days] , the rate of trachea cannula ( 16. 6% vs. 30. 0% ) , the mortality rate in 28 days ( 3. 3% vs. 10. 0% ) all had significant differences between the enteral tube feeding group and the oral feeding group. Conclusions For moderate AECOPD patients with NPPV, enteral tube feeding can obviously improve the condition of nutrition and increase the success rate of weaning, shorten the mechanical ventilation time and the mean stay in ICU, decrease the rate of trachea cannula and mortality rate in 28 days. Thus enteral tube feeding should be preferred for moderate AECOPD patients with NPPV.