Sulphamerazine for Pneumonia in Adults
| Autor: | S. D. V. Weller, Horace Joules |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1947 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
Bronchus Lung business.industry Critically ill General Engineering Sulphamerazine General Medicine Disease medicine.disease Hospital care Noma medicine.anatomical_structure medicine General Earth and Planetary Sciences Sputum medicine.symptom Intensive care medicine business General Environmental Science |
| Zdroj: | BMJ. 2:947-950 |
| ISSN: | 1468-5833 0959-8138 |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmj.2.4536.947 |
| Popis: | Pneumonia lost many of its terrors with the discovery and development of the sulphonamides, and the results of treatment of this disease are progressively improving. There is, however, a tendency to regard the sulphonamide drugs as superseded by penicillin not only in the severely ill but even in mild conditions where the former have proved adequate. Needles are never pleasant to the patient or convenient to the attendant. We hope to show that sulphonamide treatment for primary pneumonia in adults is satisfactory in the vast majority of cases, and should be given before confirmation of a clinical diagnosis, in the form of bacteriological and radiological reports, is avail able. Further, we feel that all but the most severe cases in aged or debilitated patients are reduced by this treatment to a two-day fever which can be adequately treated at home. Hospital care, with facilities for fuller investigation and treatment, is needed only for patients who fail to respond rapidly to sulphonamides or who are critically ill or whose condition is otherwise complicated. Pneumonia commonly occurs without the classical physical signs. We maintain that, in the absence of an influenzal epidemic, patients complaining of respiratory symptoms are suffering from some measure of lung con solidation if they have a temperature higher than 100? F. (37.8? C.) for more than one day. We have encountered many such patients in whom skiagrams have shown segmental or central consolidation, and we consider that all these cases should be given the benefit of a full course of a suitable sulphonamide without delay. It is very desirable to obtain at the outset, and before treatment is started, a specimen of sputum for complete bacteriological investigation. This will give a reliable indication of the causal organism in 70% of cases. Radio logical confirmation that resolution is complete, particularly in every patient over 40, is essential. Patients with carci noma of the bronchus not infrequently present with pneumonia, but complete clearing rarely occurs. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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