Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine
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Semin Respir Crit Care Med · Dec 2024
ReviewEthical Issues and the Role of Palliative Care for Patients with Aspiration Pneumonia.
Aspiration pneumonia is a clinical entity with important ethical considerations. It is imperative for clinicians to understand these considerations to best provide counsel to patients and their families, allowing them to make fully informed decisions. Given that aspiration pneumonia is frequently associated with end of life, there are palliative medicine principles that may help in the treatment of this disease.
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Semin Respir Crit Care Med · Dec 2024
ReviewIs There a Role for Bronchoscopy in Aspiration Pneumonia?
Aspiration represents the passage of oropharyngeal content to the lower respiratory tract. The interplay between the host and the aspirate proprieties determines the subsequent aspiration syndrome. A low pH, typical of gastric aspirate, favors chemical pneumonitis, whereas an increased bacterial inoculum causes aspiration pneumonia. ⋯ Invasive microbiological studies increase diagnostic yield and enable a tailored antibiotic treatment. In conjunction with stewardship programs, invasive sampling and novel molecular diagnostics can decrease the amount of inappropriate antibiotic therapy. In the context of foreign body aspiration, bronchoscopy represents both diagnostic and treatment gold standard.