Management in primary care

摘要

Mandell raises some concerns about the primary care summary of the 2009 British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines on managing community acquired pneumonia in adults. The main focus of the BTS guidelines is the management of radiographically confirmed pneumonia in hospital. Nevertheless, a summary of information relevant to primary care was considered to be of interest to general practitioners (GPs). Mandell recommends chest radiography to discriminate pneumonia from other lower respiratory tract infections. However, only 5-12% of patients seen in primary care with lower respiratory tract symptoms will have pneumonia. Is it practical and sensible for all patients to undergo radiography to accurately diagnose pneumonia in a few of them?