Purulent Bronchitis - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Purulent bronchitis

Purulent bronchitis is an inflammatory process in the structure of the bronchial tree, which is accompanied by the discharge of purulent secretions. Purulent bronchitis is always accompanied by a bacterial infection and is a type of chronic or acute bronchitis.

During a cough, the patient separates sputum containing purulent inclusions. The disease can be either primary or secondary. That is, it can arise on its own, or be the result of inflammation of the respiratory system, for example, tuberculosis, bronchiectasis, chronic pneumonia, etc.

Content:

• The causes of purulent bronchitis
• Symptoms of purulent bronchitis
• Purulent bronchitis treatment
• Prevention of purulent bronchitis

The causes of purulent bronchitis

The causes of purulent bronchitis are often mixed, that is, exogenous, endogenous, infectious and non-infectious factors are layered on top of each other.

Non-infectious exogenous causes of purulent bronchitis:

• Environmental pollution, which is reflected in the inhaled air;
• Active or passive smoking, where tobacco smoke has a pathogenic effect;
• Allergy;
• Stress;
• Inhalation of household and industrial pollutants;
• Overheating and hypothermia of the body.

All these factors contribute to excessive irritation of the mucous membrane lining the bronchi and create favorable conditions for the penetration of bacterial agents into their deep structures.

Infectious causes of purulent bronchitis:

• Infection with viruses (parainfluenza, influenza, rhinovirus infection, etc.);
• Penetration into the body of bacterial flora (pneumococci, staphylococci, haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, etc.);
• Mycotic damage to the respiratory tract with the subsequent addition of a bacterial infection;
• Acute bronchitis, which was caused by viral-bacterial flora and was improperly treated, often causes the development of purulent bronchitis.

Endogenous causes of purulent bronchitis:

• Alcohol abuse;
• Senile age;
• Overweight;
• Immunodeficiency states;
• Lack of vitamins.

The course of the disease will aggravate the presence of concomitant inflammation: chronic tonsillitis, sinusitis, COPD, other specific processes, for example, pulmonary tuberculosis.

Symptoms of purulent bronchitis

The symptoms of purulent bronchitis never occur against the background of a person's full health. The development of the pathological process is always preceded by a cold with its clinical manifestations (rhinitis, tracheitis, sore throat), or an allergic reaction with lacrimation, rhinitis, cough, or hypothermia, etc.

The immediate symptoms of purulent bronchitis are:

• Excessive weakness.
• Excessive sweating.
• Moist cough accompanied by thick mucus. Its color ranges from light yellow to deep green. The phlegm may in some cases have an unpleasant odor. When the disease process is in the acute phase, up to 250 ml of purulent sputum can be separated per day.
• If the process becomes chronic, then the sputum is likely to be separated periodically, that is, at moments of exacerbation of the disease.
• Any physical activity exceeding the minimum is accompanied by shortness of breath and rapid fatigability of the patient.
• Hemoptysis is possible, since during the illness the mucous membrane of the bronchi is characterized by increased vulnerability.

If you do not carry out the treatment of purulent bronchitis, then obstruction and blockage of the bronchial passages with purulent contents are possible. In this case, the cough increases, breathing becomes wheezing. Probably the development of complications such as cor pulmonale or pulmonary emphysema.

Purulent bronchitis treatment

At the time of exacerbation of purulent bronchitis, the patient must adhere to strict bed rest. It is important to exclude any traumatic and irritating effect on the bronchi. This applies to smoking, inhalation of allergens, dust, polluted air, etc.

The main treatment for purulent bronchitis is the appointment of antibacterial drugs to irradiate the infection.

These drugs can be:

• Preparations of the aminopenicillin group - Ampicillin, Amoxicillin.
• Preparations with a combined composition: amoxicillin + clavulanic acid - Amoxiclav, or ampicillin + sulbactam - Sulacillin.
• Preparations from the macrolide group - Azithromycin, Clarithromycin.
• Preparations of the 3rd generation cephalosporin group - Cefotaxime, Cefepim.
• Preparations from the group of fluoroquinols - Levofloxacin, Sparfloxacin.

It is these drugs that most effectively fight the pathogens of purulent bronchitis, due to the ability to accumulate in bronchial secretions in high concentration.

In order for sputum to be more efficiently and easily separated and excreted from the respiratory tract, patients with purulent bronchitis are prescribed expectorant drugs and mucolytics, for example, Ambroxol, Acetylcysteine, Bromhexine, etc. These drugs are taken orally and used for inhalation for bronchitis. It is possible to perform bronchial sanitation with bronchoalveolar lavage.

Physiotherapy (electrophoresis, inductothermy, etc.), chest massage are used as auxiliary methods of treatment, physiotherapy complexes are performed, vitamin supplements are prescribed.

As a rule, purulent bronchitis does not pose a threat to human life, and with timely and adequate treatment, the prognosis for full recovery is favorable. The loss of human capacity for work occurs for a short time, falling on the period of exacerbation. However, if treatment is ignored, serious complications may develop that threaten the patient's life.

Other treatments:

• Antibiotics for bronchitis
• Expectorants for bronchitis
• Injections for bronchitis
• Massage for bronchitis
• Mustard plasters for bronchitis
• Respiratory gymnastics for bronchitis

Prevention of purulent bronchitis

Prevention of purulent bronchitis is reduced to the following activities:

• Quitting smoking tobacco, avoiding passive inhalation of tobacco smoke;
• Reducing dust and gas content of the inhaled air;
• Administration of the seasonal flu vaccine;
• Timely treatment of respiratory diseases.

If chronic bronchitis has already been diagnosed, then the patient is shown regular observation by a pulmonologist.

Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist

Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".