OBJECTIVE: Pneumonia exhibits a diverse range of clinical manifestations and can be treated in different settings. SEPAR updated community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) guidelines in 2020. This study compares the management of CAP admissions in our hospital during 2019 with the SEPAR recommendations.

MATERIAL: We collected 173 patients admitted to Hospital Rio Carrión in 2019 with a diagnosis of CAP, excluding aspiration pneumonia. The cases were mostly handled by Internal Medicine and Pulmonology. The study recorded etiological diagnostic tests, prognostic scales, and antibiotic treatments, analizing data with STATA15.

RESULTS: Although guidelines recommend a complete etiological study for hospitalized CAP patients, in this sample, 30.3% were not evaluated. We assessed the severity of the disease and determine the need for hospitalization using the PSI and CURB65 scales and found that 31% of patients based on PSI were class II and III, 44% were class IV, and 25% were class V. Based on CURB65, 43% of patients had scores of 0-1, 51% had scores of 2-3, and 6% had scores of 4-5. Blood cultures were performed in 57% of cases (11% positive), pneumococcal antigenuria was tested in 22% (26% positive), sputum culture was performed in 17.3% (36% positive), and virus PCR was performed in 9.8% (11% positive). For empirical antibiotic treatment, quinolone monotherapy was the most commonly used (27%), followed by quinolone plus cephalosporin (24%) and amoxicillin-clavulanate (16%).

CONCLUSIONS: The standardization of CAP diagnosis and treatment is imperative in our setting. Collaboration with emergency services is essential as they admit patients, request diagnostic tests, and initiate antibiotic treatment.