The effects of systemic corticosteroid on pediatric community-acquired pneumonia: comprehensive review

Abstract

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a highly prevalent disorder in children. The treatment options available for children with CAP are inhalation therapy and initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Occasionally, CAP may progress to severe pneumonia despite appropriate therapy. While there are a few studies reporting the beneficial effects of systemic corticosteroids on CAP in adult populations, their effect as adjunctive treatment on CAP in the pediatric population remains unknown. The aim of the present review is to determine the efficacy of systemic corticosteroids on CAP in children where signs, symptoms, and radiographic findings of pneumonia worsened despite appropriate treatment. In our comprehensive review, adjuvant systemic corticosteroid appeared to be effective in reducing morbidity and is associated with clinical and radiographic improvement in children with CAP.