A Silent Threat: The Aspiration Pneumonia in Hospitalized Stroke Patients

Background: Stroke is a common illness globally and is a major cause of disability that results in some serious complications during acute phase including aspiration pneumonia. Stroke patients and caregivers are usually not aware of the difficulty in swallowing and results in aspiration pneumonia. Objective: To determine the frequency of aspiration pneumonia in acute stroke patients and its’ associated demographic pattern. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out involving 96 patients admitted with stroke at the Department of Neurology, Federal Postgraduate Medical Institute, Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore, from January 2023 to December 2023. Results: There was a total of 96 stroke patients, 18 were with hemorrhagic stroke and 78 patients were with ischemic stroke. Total 24/96 (25%) patients developed aspiration pneumonia, where 17/24 (70.83%) patients were with ischemic and 7/24 (29.16%) were with hemorrhagic stroke. Conclusion: One fourth of the admitted stroke patients developed post-stroke aspiration pneumonia which shows a high proportion of such a major cause of in-hospital mortality in stroke patients. Aspiration pneumonia is a silent, serious threat in acute stroke patients, which needs quick management plans and intubation of nasogastric tubes to minimize the risk.