The Impact of Community-acquired Pneumonia on Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients as Regards In-hospital Complications and Early Readmission

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pneumonia is a major reason for hospitalization for Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease patients (AECOPD). There is limited data available on the outcomes of AECOPD patients with or without pneumonia. Therefore, the study investigates the prognosis of AECOPD patients with or without Community-acquired Pneumonia (CAP), concerning the Length of Hospital Stay (LOS), in-hospital complications and early readmission. METHODS: This study was carried out on 100 male COPD patients without CAP, 90 patients with CAP who were admitted to the chest department of Ain Shams University hospital over a 1-year period. Data collection about LOS, in-hospital complications, was recorded and they were followed for 30 days to detect acute readmission. RESULTS: The mean age was 64± 8 years old in COPD patients without CAP to 62± 12year old in patients with CAP, LOS in COPD patients with CAP was 11.30 ± 3.23 days to 7.57 ± 2.24 in patients without CAP, COPD patients with CAP had a higher rate of complications in comparison to those without CAP as 45.6%, 13% were admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) respectively, 15.6%, 3% were mechanically ventilated respectively. LOS and C- Reactive Protein (CRP) were significant causes for readmission in COPD patients with and without CAP. CONCLUSION: COPD patients with CAP had longer LOS and more short term complications as ICU admission, mechanical ventilation and higher readmission rate in comparison to COPD patients without CAP.