NSAIDs May Not Be Good for Pneumonia

This is from a French study on NSAIDS, but does point out another problem for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They say that use of NSAIDs in the early stages of severe lower respiratory tract infection may be causing additional problems for pneumonia patients.

In the pilot study, they observed that NSAID treated patients with community-acquired pneumonia were five times more likely to develop pleural empyema or lung cavitation, that is the this transparent membrane enveloping the lungs and lining the walls of the thoracic cavity. This is compared to patients not receiving NSAIDs.

The authors did say that patients who were taking NSAIDs did not have higher rates of organ failure, nor a greater need for organ support or more severe systemic inflammation while in the ICU, nor did the mortality rare differ between the groups.

They also say these finding suggest that NSAID use at the early stage of community-acquired pneumonia can be associated with less effective compartmentalization of infection, and a blunted systemic response, which may result in a delayed diagnosis and management, and a protracted course of treatment.

Read the article about this here.