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- Title
Diagnosis and Treatment of Community-Acquired Pneumonia.
- Authors
Lutfiyya, M. Nawal; Henley, Eric; Chang, Linda F.; Reyburn, Stephanie Wessel
- 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.
- Subjects
PNEUMONIA; LUNG diseases; CHEST pain; COUGH; PHYSICIANS; DIAGNOSIS
- Publication
American Family Physician, 2006, Vol 73, Issue 3, p442
- ISSN
0002-838X
- Publication type
Article