BACKGROUND: Understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has evolved thanks to new evidence, experience, and emerging technologies. This document updates evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on four key questions for the diagnosis and management of adult patients with CAP.
METHODS: A multidisciplinary panel integrated systematic reviews of comparative evidence with other relevant research and clinical experience, then applied Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology to produce recommendations using the Evidence to Decision Framework.
RESULTS: The panel formulated clinical recommendations that address questions related to CAP, including lung ultrasound for diagnosis, empiric antibacterial therapy if a test for a respiratory virus is positive, antibiotic duration, and the use of systemic corticosteroids.
CONCLUSIONS: The panel formulated and provided the rationale for recommendations on selected diagnostic and treatment strategies for adult patients with CAP.
| Discipline Area | Score |
|---|---|
| Respirology/Pulmonology |  |
| Family Medicine (FM)/General Practice (GP) | |
| General Internal Medicine-Primary Care(US) | |
Since the ATS/IDSA guidelines are state of the art for pulmonologists, most practitioners in my discipline probably already are aware of this publication.
Useful recommendations.
The recommendation of empiric antibacterial therapy if a test for a respiratory virus is positive is useless. Indeed, the question itself is clinically irrelevant. We need to know when and how to choose microbiological tests, not make decisions based on unexpected or non-required laboratory tests.
