How is aspiration pneumonia treated?
You may need to stay in the hospital to get better from aspiration pneumonia. You may need oxygen and special medicines to help your lungs. You may need medicine to help reduce the acid in your stomach or to help food move through your stomach faster. You may need antibiotics (an-ti-bi-AH-tiks) to prevent or treat an infection caused by bacteria (bak-TEE-ree-ah). You may need a machine to help you breathe. If you inhaled something solid, you may need a bronchoscopy (brong-KOS-ke-pee) to remove it. This procedure uses a small, flexible scope that is passed through your mouth and into your lungs. You may need special caregivers to help decrease your chance of inhaling something into your lungs again. A speech and language pathologist (pah-THOL-oh-jist) or an occupational (ok-u-PAY-shun-al) therapist may help find and treat swallowing problems. A dietitian (deye-e-TISH-an) can help you plan easy-to-swallow meals to decrease your risk of choking. Risks: Aspiration pneumonia can be serious,
