Pneumonia in the elderly. Features of the treatment of congestive pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory disease of the lungs caused by microorganisms, fungi, or viruses. Despite advances in medicine, about 5% of cases of the disease are fatal.

Pneumonia is especially dangerous in a bed patient. The symptoms of the disease are formed on the basis of sluggish blood circulation and a sedentary lifestyle. One of the manifestations of pneumonia is edema and pressure sores on the chest.

Other treatments are also available for more severe cases. For cases of allergic asthma, there is also the possibility of immunotherapy, which is a "vaccine" against allergens, indicated after allergy confirmation. “It is always important to have a medical assessment to determine each case,” adds the specialist.

To relieve asthma symptoms, it is important to follow some basic tips, such as quitting cigarettes. If you smoke and your child suffers from asthma, avoid smoking near the child or at home, if you have reached a certain age and suffer from it, it is good to stop smoking. Keep your home clean to avoid possible attack triggers. and sun exposure help refresh the air and reduce the likelihood of mold in the environment. Feel with a clean cloth instead of sweeping the house.

They arise due to a violation of the blood supply to the lung tissue. The lungs are poorly ventilated, and the bronchi accumulate a large amount of phlegm, which the patient is unable to cough up.

Causes of pneumonia in bedridden patients

There are several reasons for the appearance of symptoms of the disease in bedridden patients:

  • Infections caused by bacteria;
  • Chronic lung disease;
  • Allergic lung diseases;
  • Aspiration of fluid from the stomach during vomiting and belching.

Symptoms can vary significantly from patient to patient, and directly depend on the cause of the disease.

Another important point is to keep vaccinations up to date, as people with asthma tend to have more complications. Trauma and Aging: Radiological Implications. Department of Pneumology, Hospital Santa Casa Porto Alegre; and professor of radiology. Liverpool Heart Hospital and chest, Liverpool, UK.

In older people, it is often difficult to determine what is normal due to the many anatomical and physiological changes that occur during the aging process. As a result, the main problem is differentiating the point at which aging is normal from the onset of the disease. Chest radiologic findings in healthy older adults are usually borderline. Inclusion criteria were original articles and a review of radiological findings in the chest associated with aging.

At the initial stage of the disease, the patient develops a strong dry cough. The more time passes, the more pronounced the cough attacks become. At further stages, they are practically not treated. antibacterial drugs.

An increased temperature in bedridden patients appears extremely rarely and very slightly. That is why, it is possible to diagnose the disease only with the further appearance of more complex symptoms. It all starts with severe shortness of breath. The patient's breathing is intermittent, there are strong wheezing notes. Signs of fever may also appear. When coughing up sputum, blotches of blood or pus are noticeable.

In general, aging leads to physiological changes that must be recognized so that they are not misinterpreted as pathologies. Key words: aging; rib cage; lungs; Diagnostics by image. With an increase in frequency, radiological studies are carried out in elderly patients due to the gradual increase in the life expectancy of the population, caused by better living conditions and advances in medicine. In older people, it is often difficult to establish what is normal or rather the degree of compatibility with an age group.

Such pneumonia in bedridden patients is also called stagnant, as it occurs due to stagnation of sputum, in which microorganisms develop that provoke the inflammatory process.

Treatment of pneumonia

The treatment of congestive pneumonia is very long and serious. It is based on three principles: eliminate infection, improve ventilation of the lungs, reduce swelling of the mucous membrane.

This is due to the numerous anatomical and physiological changes that occur during the aging process. In this context, the challenge imposed in clinical practice is to determine the extent to which the changes found in these individuals are caused by aging. The purpose of this review was to describe the radiological findings most commonly associated with thoracic aging.

In addition, changes to the subject and reference lists of all articles deemed relevant were reviewed to find new articles for inclusion. The inclusion criteria were articles describing the radiological evidence associated with thoracic aging. We found 152 articles, 12 of which were selected by reading the abstract. In addition to these articles on basic X-ray studies of lung aging, we have included 39 other articles that discuss clinical, pathological, and functional aspects to support the discussion.

Complex therapy is used for treatment. It consists of a course of antibacterial, expectorant, antioxidant and immunomodulatory drugs. Medicines are also prescribed that increase the metabolism of the heart.

As an additional treatment, they use therapeutic exercises, oxygen therapy, as well as various inhalations.

The results were divided into three groups: chest wall, mediastinum, and lung parenchyma. Radiological changes associated with aging of the chest. This reduction is one of the main reasons for the increased transparency of the lungs on chest radiographic examinations in the elderly. While there are no studies defining the starting age for this finding, it is known that this is due to the loss of muscle mass associated with the physiological aging process, more evident the older the person is.

However, there are no objective criteria for diagnosing this detection by imaging methods. Another common finding is the presence of costal cartilage calcifications, which appear as small islands of compact bone matter and may have a nodular appearance, sometimes confused with solitary pulmonary nodules.

To prevent congestive pneumonia, the patient needs a balanced diet. It is also quite often necessary to change the position of a lying patient, massage the chest. There is a need to perform breathing exercises, which promotes ventilation of the lungs.

Inflammation of the lungs in the elderly

Older people also have a greater risk of developing pneumonia. The cause of the disease can be a sedentary lifestyle, many chronic diseases (especially associated with the lungs), as well as reduced immunity.

The spine is another site where aging-related degenerative changes are common. The main changes are osteoporosis and spondylosis. The term spondylosis includes degenerative changes in the spine, including contraction of the intervertebral spaces, sclerosis in the bone, adjacent intervertebral discs, and peripheral vertebral osteophytes. The presence of vertebral osteophytes is usually more pronounced on the right side of the spine due to the presence of a descending aorta on the left side. The accentuation of the dorsal kyphosis associated with a greater bulge of the sternum contributes to the phenotypic configuration of the elderly chest, called "chest in a barrel".

The symptoms of inflammation in old people are different from those in younger people. It manifests itself in the same way as in bedridden patients. Therefore, the treatment should also be gentle enough, but effective.

Together with antibacterial drugs, mucolytic and expectorant drugs are prescribed, as well as drugs that increase immunity. Elderly people should move more, you can do therapeutic exercises under the supervision of a specialist. Proper nutrition, a healthy lifestyle and minimal psychological stress are very important.

When bound, these parietal changes cause chest wall reinforcement with adverse effects on ventilatory mechanics. Other frequent findings in imaging studies of the elderly are diaphragmatic protrusions due to muscle hypertrophy and dyskinesia in some areas, especially on the right side, probably caused by the effort of the hemidiaphragm to maintain anatomical connection between the lung and the liver.

Radiological changes associated with aging of the mediastinum. Changes associated exclusively with the physiological aging process of the heart are observed in about 10% of the elderly population. This selected group is characterized by the presence of only primary outcomes of cardiac aging, that is, radiological outcomes not associated with common comorbidities in this age group.

A high temperature in a bedridden patient, which can rise both abruptly and gradually - the condition is often found in bedridden patients and indicates an unfavorable outcome. It remains unclear whether it is only an indicator of severe illness (for example, due to deterioration of central temperature regulation or resorption of subarachnoid blood) or indicates infectious complications (for example, pneumonia or urinary tract infection), and also whether an increase in body temperature in bedridden patients brain damage. The latter is confirmed by studies on animals, in which it was found that a high body temperature increases, and a decrease in body temperature in bedridden patients reduces ischemic brain damage. Below are some possible reasons febrile condition after stroke and the most common infections.

The most common physiological change associated with cardiovascular aging is diastolic dysfunction, which arises from an increase in left ventricular muscle mass and changes in myocardial elasticity that occur with age.

In the case of radiological characteristics, the main changes in the “elderly heart” are an increase in muscle mass and myocardial thickness, especially in the left ventricle, due to myocyte hypertrophy and an increase in the connective tissue matrix; marginal thickening of the heart valves due to deposits of fats, collagen and calcium, causing wear of the valve ring and, therefore, moderate insufficiency in about 90% of healthy patients over 80 years of age; and coronary sclerosis, which leads to changes in myocardial perfusion.

REASONS OF HIGH TEMPERATURE IN A BEDROOM PATIENT:

Urinary tract infection
Pneumonia
Concomitant pathology of the upper respiratory tract
Deep vein thrombosis
Pulmonary embolism
Bedsores
Vascular disease (eg, myocardial, bowel, or limb infarction)
Infective endocarditis
Intravenous injection site infection
Drug allergy

Although these modifications have, for the most part, no clinical implications for healthy patients, they can contribute to decompensation during overload by external factors such as infectious processes. Changes associated with the aorta include lengthening and dilation, which are the main factors responsible for the enlargement of the upper mediastinum on chest x-ray in the elderly. Parietal calcifications of the aorta, present in the vast majority of patients, more often in the arch and descending part, are nonspecific changes in radiological examination.

Immobility of stroke patients most often provokes infectious diseases lungs and genitourinary system. Pulmonary infection usually occurs in the early stages of stroke, manifesting in 20% of patients, while infection of the genitourinary system occurs during the entire period of recovery. Infectious lesion lungs may be associated with aspiration, insufficient secretion, decreased chest movement on the side of hemiparesis. According to postmortem examination, pneumonia was more often bilateral, and when it was unilateral, it was not necessarily on the side of hemiparesis. However, other authors found the clinical symptoms of pneumonia more often on the affected side.
Studies based on the assessment of retrospective data revealed that 25-44% of stroke patients who were recovering after a stroke in the hospital had an infection of the genitourinary system. Infections are the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality in bedridden patients, and they often lead to a break in the rehabilitation process.

However, in the elderly, calcification of the thoracic aorta, heart valves, and coronary arteries indicates a greater tendency to cardiovascular disease. Radiological changes associated with aging of the lung parenchyma. During the first two decades of life, the lungs go through a growth and maturation stage.

One of the most important physiological changes associated with aging is a decrease in lung compliance. The elastic properties of the lung can be divided into two components: surface forces and tissue forces. There is no evidence that the surface strength of the coating of endpoint respirators changes its mechanical behavior with age.

PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF TEMPERATURE IN BEDROOM PATIENTS:

Infectious lung disease can be minimized with proper patient posture, exercise therapy, mucus aspiration, and aspiration-prevention care. Genito-urinary tract infections can be avoided by achieving adequate fluid balance between fluid inflow and outflow and by avoiding unnecessary bladder catheterization. The benefits of prophylactic antibiotic therapy in order to reduce the risk of infectious complications after stroke have not been convincingly proven. An important point is ^ adequate nutrition of the patient, since malnutrition leads to immune disorders.
It is necessary to measure the patient's temperature at least every 6 hours during the first days after a stroke and thereafter if there are any symptoms of an infectious process or functional deterioration. However, hyperthermia may not be present, especially in the elderly and those with immunosuppression. Any functional impairment or failure to achieve rehabilitation goals should prompt the physician to look for infection. The reason high temperature can be detected by clinical examination, confirmed by appropriate studies (the number of neutrophils, urine culture, sputum sludge of blood, chest x-ray, the presence of C-reactive protein). Treatment depends on the cause, but it is sufficiently justified, given the harm of hyperthermia itself, the appointment of antipyretic drugs (for example, Panadol). Of course, in the case of a specific infection, appropriate antibiotic therapy and supportive treatment (eg physiotherapy, oxygen therapy) must be carried out.

In the chest wall, there is a decrease in complacency, mainly due to skeletal bone restrictions such as vertebral fractures, spondylosis, and progressive loss of strength in muscles associated with breathing. In the case of lung parenchyma, lung adherence usually decreases with aging. These changes are usually attributed to changes in the lung connective tissue. Biochemical studies show, however, that the total collagen and elastin content in the lungs does not change with aging. What happens is that collagen becomes more stable due to the increase in the number of intermolecular cross-links.