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Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) and steroids (steroid use in CAP)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

There is evidence regarding positive outcomes from using oral steroid treatment in community acquired pneumonia (CAP):

  • a systematic review regarding the use of steroids in hospitalized patients with CAP was undertaken (1)
    • this concluded:
      • for hospitalized adults with CAP, systemic corticosteroid therapy may reduce mortality by approximately 3%, need for mechanical ventilation by approximately 5%, and hospital stay by approximately 1 day

  • a further systematic review concluded (2):
    • corticosteroid therapy reduced mortality and morbidity in adults with severe CAP; the number needed to treat for an additional beneficial outcome was 18 patients (95% CI 12 to 49) to prevent one death
    • corticosteroid therapy reduced morbidity, but not mortality, for adults and children with non-severe CAP
    • corticosteroid therapy was associated with more adverse events, especially hyperglycaemia, but the harms did not seem to outweigh the benefits

  • considering both adult and paediatric patients (3)
    • a systematic review stated that the "take home message" was that
      • "..for adult patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia, corticosteroids reduce morbidity and mortality. For pediatric patients and adults with nonsevere community-acquired pneumonia, corticosteroids appear to reduce morbidity, but not mortality"
      • the authors stated that
        • current data suggest that corticosteroids reduce morbidity and mortality in severe community-acquired pneumonia
          • corticosteroids were also shown to be beneficial in patients with nonsevere community-acquired pneumonia who were admitted to the hospital
          • administration of corticosteroids was associated with an increased rate of hyperglycemia, without a difference in other adverse events
        • limitations of the review were highlighted:
          • studies included in the meta-analysis varied in the doses, days of total treatment, and type of corticosteroid administered
          • review included patients with a variety of medical conditions (eg, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes), who may respond differently than patients without these comorbidities
          • many of the outcomes were limited by small sample sizes, with one study comprising nearly half of all of the included patients
          • sample sizes in the pediatric studies were very small

  • a systematic review found (4):
    • corticosteroid therapy is associated with a lower incidence of progression to requiring mechanical ventilation among patients hospitalized with CAP
    • no association was found between corticosteroid therapy and mortality, treatment failure, or adverse events

  • steroid therapy in adults who had been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for severe CAP
    • among patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia being treated in the ICU, those who received hydrocortisone had a lower risk of death by day 28 than those who received placebo (5)

  • a review (18 RCTs; n=4,661) found corticosteroids probably reduce mortality in more severe community-acquired pneumonia (RR 0.62 [95% CI 0.45 to 0.85]; moderate certainty) and probably reduce risk of requiring invasive mechanical ventilation and ICU admission (6)

Reference:


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