Ovidius Study

Dexamethasone infusion in community-acquired pneumonia

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is common and approximately 20 percent of all episodes of pneumonia result in hospitalization. It is the leading cause of community-acquired infection requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Especially elderly patients may have a severe illness with a high morbidity and mortality rate. On ICU, early treatment with corticosteroids to attenuate systemic inflammation is widespread.

However, it is unclear whether addition of corticosteroids to antibiotic treatment benefits patients with community-acquired pneumonia who are not in intensive care units. With this research we aimed to assess the effect of addition of dexamethasone on length of stay in this group, which might result in earlier resolution of pneumonia through dampening of
systemic inflammation.

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