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Medical Author:

Christopher B Beach, MD

Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Evaluation and treatment for chemical pneumonia vary. Almost everyone will have measurements of blood pressure, oxygen level, heart rate, and respiratory rate.

In many people with chemical pneumonia, treatment is primarily observation. Sometimes symptoms develop over time and the amount of damage done won't be totally known for several hours.

Many treatments are possible, including the following:

• IV fluids
• Oxygen by mask or tube
• Breathing treatment with medicine to open breathing tubes
• Steroid medications by IV or mouth
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications by mouth
• Pain medications by IV or mouth
• Artificial ventilation (help breathing)
• Preventive antibiotics (sometimes)
• Antidotes (usually poison control and a toxicologist are consulted. Use of antidotes are rare.

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