Diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia
- PMID:16477891
Diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia
Abstract
Patients with community-acquired pneumonia often present with cough, fever, chills, fatigue, dyspnea, rigors, and pleuritic chest pain. When a patient presents with suspected community-acquired pneumonia, the physician should first assess the need for hospitalization using a mortality prediction tool, such as the Pneumonia Severity Index, combined with clinical judgment. Consensus guidelines from several organizations recommend empiric therapy with macrolides, fluoroquinolones, or doxycycline. Patients who are hospitalized should be switched from parenteral antibiotics to oral antibiotics after their symptoms improve, they are afebrile, and they are able to tolerate oral medications. Clinical pathways are important tools to improve care and maximize cost-effectiveness in hospitalized patients.
Comment in
- Exclusion criteria important in use of clinical decision rules.Lattavo AP.Lattavo AP.Am Fam Physician. 2006 Sep 15;74(6):921.Am Fam Physician. 2006.PMID:17004310No abstract available.
- Medication options for the treatment of CAP.Mandell LA, File TM Jr, Iannini PB.Mandell LA, et al.Am Fam Physician. 2006 Nov 1;74(9):1479.Am Fam Physician. 2006.PMID:17111884No abstract available.
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