Causes | Pneumonia after OP

Causes

Since the immune system is weakened anyway after a long operation, postoperative pneumonia can quickly lead to complications. The so-called respiratory insufficiency is one of the most feared complications in this context. Since the affected patients can only breathe inadequately due to the inflammatory processes within the lung tissue, the oxygen supply to all organs can be affected.

For this reason, respiratory insufficiency is one of the central complications of pneumonia after surgery. In the course of the disease, there is an enormous drop in oxygen saturation with a simultaneous increase in the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the blood (global insufficiency). Symptoms of the disease are pronounced shortness of breath, superficial panting, cyanosis (blue coloration of lips and skin), confusion, restlessness and anxiety.

Diagnosis

As soon as a patient is diagnosed with pneumonia after surgery, an orienting examination of the chest is performed. When listening to the lungs, rattling breathing sounds, which indicate an inflammatory infiltrate, are usually noticed. These breathing noises are primarily caused by a compression of the lung tissue and mucus deposits in the airways.

In addition, a chest x-ray should be taken. If there is a pneumonia that has occurred after an operation, so-called shadows (areas that are significantly brighter than the surrounding lung tissue) can be seen on the X-ray. Since a laboratory examination of the coughed up secretion is usually too inaccurate to identify the causative pathogen, a so-called bronchoscopy should be performed in pronounced cases.

In this examination method, a flexible tube is pushed through the mouth into the respiratory tract. In this way, samples can be taken directly from the bronchi. A blood test is also essential if there is a suspicion of pneumonia, which occurs after an operation.

Due to the inflammatory processes, an increase in white blood cells (leukocytes) is shown in the blood count in the case of bacterial pneumonia. In addition, the so-called C-reactive protein (CRP) is significantly increased in a patient with pneumonia. In contrast, viral pneumonia typically causes only a slight increase in white blood cells.