Important: Therapy
The acute aspiration of stomach content in patients unable to protect their airway due to unconsciousness causes chemical pneumonitis and does not respond to antimicrobial treatment.
5 days
The acute aspiration of stomach content in patients unable to protect their airway due to unconsciousness causes chemical pneumonitis and does not respond to antimicrobial treatment.
Treat as community-acquired pneumonia or hospital-acquired pneumonia (if hospital admission in last 6 weeks or current in-patient for >48hrs) with the addition of metronidazole to cover oral anaerobic organisms.
Add Metronidazole PO 400mg every 8 hours or IV 500mg every 8 hours for anaerobic cover to the following:
True aspiration pneumonia arises from continuous microaspiration of upper respiratory tract secretions in patients with swallowing difficulties.
If the patient is already receiving Co-Amoxiclav, piperacillin-tazobactam or meropenem due to known resistant organisms or on Infection Specialist advice, the addition of metronidazole is not required, as these agents provide anaerobic cover.