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Last reviewed: 24 Nov 2025
Last updated: 31 Jan 2023

Summary

Definition

History and exam

Key diagnostic factors

  • tosse com aumento da produção de escarro
  • dispneia
  • dor torácica pleurítica
  • calafrios ou sudorese noturna
  • febre
  • achados anormais da ausculta
  • confusão
  • presença de fatores de risco

Other diagnostic factors

  • mialgia
  • mal-estar
  • anorexia
  • letargia
  • agravamento de condições pré-existentes
  • faringite
  • cefaleia
  • náuseas
  • dor abdominal
  • diarreia

Risk factors

  • idade >65 anos
  • residência em um ambiente de cuidados médicos
  • Doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica (DPOC)
  • exposição à fumaça de cigarro
  • abuso de álcool
  • higiene bucal ineficiente
  • uso de medicamentos antiácidos
  • contato com crianças
  • diabetes mellitus
  • doença renal crônica
  • doença hepática crônica
  • uso de opioides

Diagnostic investigations

1st investigations to order

  • radiografia torácica
  • oximetria de pulso
  • gasometria arterial
  • ureia e eletrólitos
  • hemograma completo
  • proteína C-reativa
  • testes da função hepática

Investigations to consider

  • hemocultura
  • cultura de escarro (± coloração de Gram)
  • teste de antígeno urinário para Legionella e pneumococo
  • reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR) e/ou testes sorológicos
  • TC do tórax
  • ultrassonografia do tórax
  • toracocentese e cultura do líquido pleural
  • angiografia pulmonar por tomografia computadorizada (APTC)
  • broncoscopia
  • procalcitonina sérica
  • proteína C-reativa no local de atendimento

Treatment algorithm

Contributors

Expert advisers

Jonathan Bennett, MD

Honorary Professor of Respiratory Sciences

University of Leicester

Respiratory Consultant

Glenfield Hospital

Leicester

UK

Biography

JB is deputy medical director RCP Invited service Reviews, and speaker at National Society (e.g., BTS), Primary Care respiratory Society, and Society Cardiothoracic Surgeons meetings.

Disclosures

JB declares that he has no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

BMJ Best Practice would like to gratefully acknowledge the previous team of expert contributors, whose work has been retained in parts of the content:

Catia Cilloniz MSc, PhD

Post-doctoral Research

Pneumology Department

Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

CIBERES

IDIBAPS

Barcelona

Spain

Antoni Torres MD, PhD

Professor of Medicine

Director

Pulmonary Intensive Care Unit

Respiratory Institute

Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

Barcelona

Spain

Disclosures

CC and AT are each authors of a number of references cited in this topic.

Peer reviewers

Wei Shen Lim

Consultant Respiratory Physician and Honorary Professor of Medicine

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Nottingham

UK

Disclosures

WSL was chairman of the British Thoracic Society community-acquired pneumonia guidelines committee and a member of the guideline development group for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence pneumonia guidelines. His institution has received unrestricted investigator-initiated research funding from Pfizer for a multicentre study of pneumococcal pneumonia in which he was the chief investigator, and research funding from the National Institute for Health Research for studies in pneumonia in which he was the principal investigator. He is also an author of at least one reference cited in the topic.

Peer reviewer acknowledgements

BMJ Best Practice topics are updated on a rolling basis in line with developments in evidence and guidance. The peer reviewers listed here have reviewed the content at least once during the history of the topic.

Disclosures

Peer reviewer affiliations and disclosures pertain to the time of the review.

References

Our in-house evidence and editorial teams collaborate with international expert contributors and peer reviewers to ensure that we provide access to the most clinically relevant information possible.

Key articles

Lim WS, Baudouin SV, George RC, et al; Pneumonia Guidelines Committee of the BTS Standards of Care Committee. British Thoracic Society guidelines for the management of community acquired pneumonia in adults: update 2009. Thorax. 2009 Oct;64(suppl 3):iii1-55.Full text  Abstract

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Pneumonia in adults: diagnosis and management. July 2022 [internet publication].Full text

British Thoracic Society. 2015 - Annotated BTS guideline for the management of CAP in adults (2009) summary of recommendations. Jan 2015 [internet publication].Full text

O'Driscoll BR, Howard LS, Earis J, et al. BTS guideline for oxygen use in adults in healthcare and emergency settings. Thorax. 2017 Jun;72 (Suppl 1):ii1-90.Full text  Abstract

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Pneumonia (community-acquired): antimicrobial prescribing. Sep 2019 [internet publication].Full text

Reference articles

A full list of sources referenced in this topic is available here.

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