A clinical study on non-resolving pneumonia in tertiary care centre

ABSTRACT

Background: Non-resolving pneumonia is a problem not only for the patient but also to the treating physician because establishing the cause for the non-resolution of pneumonia takes time and requires invasive investigations. The present study was done with the aim to evaluate the etiology and clinical outcome of non-resolving pneumonia by using fibre-optic bronchoscopy (FOB).Methods: This prospective study was done on 45 patients with symptoms and signs of non-resolving pneumonia attending the Govt. Thiruvotteeswarar Hospital of Thoracic Medicine, Otteri, Chennai, a tertiary care teaching centre, during the period January 2016 to December 2016. All the patients were investigated systematically to find out the etiological factors for non-resolution pneumoniaResults: Males preponderance was seen in the study (80%). Patients of age group 51-60 years are more affected (26.6%). Bacterial pneumonia not responding to empirical antibiotics (42.2%) was the most common cause followed by pulmonary tuberculosis (28.8%) and malignancy (24.4%). On FOB, inflammation with secretions was noticed in most of the patients (66.6%).Conclusion: The findings of the study concluded that apart from bacterial pneumonia not responding to empirical antibiotics, tuberculosis and malignancy were found to be the major causes of non-resolving pneumonia. Hence, it is necessary to observe every patients for the adequate response to treatment and to utilize other modalities of investigations like FOB,CT guided FNAC/biopsy whenever required to offer exact management to the patients.