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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffIf you're young and healthy, appropriate treatment — specifically, antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia — usually results in uncomplicated recovery. However, some organisms that cause pneumonia are so virulent that they overwhelm the defense mechanisms, even in otherwise healthy people.
Pneumonia is more likely to cause complications in older people, smokers and people with heart failure or lung disease, such as COPD. Pneumonia complications may include:
- Bacteria in your bloodstream. The smallest airways in your lungs terminate in tiny air sacs called alveoli (al-VEE-o-li), where blood cells exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. In pneumonia, alveoli contain bacteria that may enter the bloodstream during gas exchange. Infection then spreads through the bloodstream, potentially causing shock and failure of multiple organs.
- Septic shock. Unchecked bacterial growth in the bloodstream can shut down normal circulation. Blood fills the veins and leaks through the walls of the capillaries, causing uncontrolled tissue swelling and possibly organ failure, which can lead to death.
- Fluid accumulation and infection around your lungs. Sometimes fluid accumulates between the thin, transparent membrane (pleura) covering your lungs and the membrane that lines the inner surface of your chest wall - a condition known as pleural effusion. When the pleurae around your lungs become inflamed (pleurisy) — often as a result of pneumonia — fluid can accumulate and may become infected (empyema).
- Lung abscess. Occasionally a cavity containing pus (abscess) forms within the area affected by pneumonia.
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). When pneumonia involves most areas of both lungs, breathing is difficult and your body doesn't get enough oxygen. Underlying lung disease of any kind, but especially COPD, makes you more susceptible to ARDS.
- Pneumonia. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec05/ch052/ch052a.html. Accessed April 8, 2011.
- Pneumonia. American Lung Association. http://www.lungusa.org/lung-disease/pneumonia/. Accessed March 17, 2011.
- Durrington H, et al. Recent changes in the management of community-acquired pneumonia in adults. British Medical Journal. 2008;336:1429.
- Menendez R, et al. Treatment failure in community-acquired pneumonia. Chest. 2007;132:1348.
- Singh S, et al. Long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids and the risk of pneumonia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A meta-analysis. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2009;169:219.
- Chong C, et al. Pneumonia in the elderly: A review of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, microbiology and clinical features. Southern Medical Journal. 2008;101:1141.
- Chong C, et al. Pneumonia in the elderly: A review of severity assessment, prognosis, mortality, prevention and treatment. Southern Medical Journal. 2008;101:1134.
- Pneumococcal disease in-short. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pneumo/in-short-both.htm. Accessed March 23, 2011.
- File TM. Treatment of hospital-acquired, ventilator-associated, and healthcare-associated pneumonia in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 23, 2011.
- Mandell LA, et al. Pneumonia. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Online. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=2899132. Accessed April 5, 2011.
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