Review of current concepts in aspiration pneumonia

Aspiration pneumonia is a form of ARDS resulting from an acid injury of the lung and is primarily a problem of arterial hypoxemia requiring adequate oxygen therapy. All other modes of therapy have not been shown to alter survival in man. In the otherwise healthy individual, immediate and long-term prognoses are excellent. However, in debilitated patients with significant underlying disease processes, rates of both immediate and delayed death are high. The late deaths reflect the significance of secondary infection due primarily to anaerobic organisms.