Aspiration Pneumonia in Patients with Cerebral Infarction

Abstract

Background: Aspiration pneumonia is a major complication and cause of death in patients admitted to intensive care units. Numerous features of this condition still remain imprecise. One of its causes could be cerebral infarction. So it is necessary to study its prevalence in the population presenting with cerebral infarction. Objective: To determine the frequency of aspiration pneumonia in patients with cerebral infarction. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan, from July 2020 to April 2021. Both male and female patients, ages 40–70, with cerebral infarcts who developed neurological deficits within 48 hours of stroke onset were included in the study. Each patient underwent a thorough history and clinical examination. Data was recorded on a proforma, and the collected data was entered and analyzed using SPSS 24. Quantitative data like age, temperature, blood pressure (BP), Glasgow Coma scale (GCS) score, fasting blood sugar (FBS), and body mass index (BMI) were presented as mean and standard deviation. Qualitative data like gender, impaired gag reflex, and presence of aspiration pneumonia were presented as frequencies and percentages. Data was stratified for BP, FBS, age, gender, and BMI. Results: A total of 217 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the study participants was 54.79 ± 7.45 years. Males accounted for 124 (57.1%) of the patients, and the remaining 93 (42.9%) were female. The mean body temperature of the study participants was 103.05 ± 1.21°F, the mean score on the GCS was 9.04 ± 1.76, the gag reflex was impaired in 68 (31.3%) patients, the mean blood pressure (BP) was 143.02  10.19 mmHg, the mean body mass index (BMI) was 32.04 ± 3.91kg/m2, FBS was 129.02 ± 10.86 mg/dl. Aspiration pneumonia was noted in 46 (21.2%) cases while 171 (78.8%) patients had no aspiration pneumonia. There was no impact of age, gender, BMI, FBS, and BP on cerebral infarction-associated aspiration pneumonia. Conclusion: The data analysis revealed that age, gender, BMI, FBS, and BP had no significant impact on the development of cerebral infarction-associated aspiration pneumonia. These findings suggest that in the studied population, these particular demographic and clinical factors did not appear to influence the occurrence of aspiration pneumonia related to cerebral infarction. The study may contribute to a better understanding of the risk factors associated with this type of pneumonia in this patient population, potentially informing future research and clinical management approaches. Key Words: Cerebral Infarction; Aspiration Pneumonia; stroke