Lower Lobe Pneumonia

Introduction:

With right lower lobe pneumonia or left lower lobe pneumonia right upper or left upper abdominal pain can be mimicked. The pain perception is similar to atelectases (collapsed lung).

Symptoms: The symptoms vary somewhat depending on the pathogen isolated. However, there is usually a cough, elevated body temperature, production of sputum and pain in the affected chest area. The patient may have a piercing pain with coughing or dyspnea. With lower lobe pneumonia there is often so much irritation of the diaphragm that there can be radiating pain into the right or left upper abdomen.

It is because of this radiating pain into the abdomen that pneumonia is mentioned here. Chest X-rays will confirm the diagnosis. Here is a link that shows an image of how such X-rays would look. In this case we are looking at the X-rays from the front and see a large shadow in the right lower lung area. This shadow in the right lower lung of the patient (our left side in the image) is produced from the higher tissue density associated with the right lower lobe pneumonia depicted here. In the side projection the same shadow can be seen again from a different perspective. The physician may find crackling sounds on auscultation.

Treatment: Sputum that was cultured often shows the pathogen like, for instance, Streptococcus pneumoniae. However, with viral pneumonia the cultures may be negative. I am not going into the various possible causes of pneumonia here. Treatment varies regarding the cause of the pneumonia, although often it is a presumptive diagnosis, if there is no positive identification of a pathogen. Empiric antibiotics are often given.

Pain relief:

There is an FDA approved non-drug method available, IceWave patches from Lifewave, which will control pain. This is mentioned in the book "Breakthrough" by Suzanne Somers (Ref. 9) where newer insights of antiaging medicine are also reviewed. Although the patches are placed over acupuncture points, there are no needles involved. Nanotechnology, a newer technology, was used in the manufacturing of these patches and infrared (heat) waves from body heat are utilized to stimulate an acupuncture point, which modifies pain perception and reduces pain to half or less. Medically this would be considered an excellent pain reliever. For more info on the patches see the IceWave patches from Lifewave link above (click "products"). In the US a 5 pack of the IceWave spray is available that can be directly sprayed onto the skin in the area where the pain is located.

Disclaimer

This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.

References

1. DM Thompson: The 46th Annual St. Paul's Hospital CME Conference for Primary Physicians, Nov. 14-17, 2000, Vancouver/B.C./Canada

2. C Ritenbaugh Curr Oncol Rep 2000 May 2(3): 225-233.

3. PA Totten et al. J Infect Dis 2001 Jan 183(2): 269-276.

4. M Ohkawa et al. Br J Urol 1993 Dec 72(6):918-921.

5. Textbook of Primary Care Medicine, 3rd ed., Copyright © 2001 Mosby, Inc., pages 976-983: "Chapter 107 - Acute Abdomen and Common Surgical Abdominal Problems".

6. Marx: Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice, 5th ed., Copyright © 2002 Mosby, Inc. , p. 185:"Abdominal pain".

7. Feldman: Sleisenger & Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 7th ed., Copyright © 2002 Elsevier, p. 71: "Chapter 4 - Abdominal Pain, Including the Acute Abdomen".

8. Ferri: Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment, 2004 ed., Copyright © 2004 Mosby, Inc.

9. Suzanne Somers: "Breakthrough" Eight Steps to Wellness-- Life-altering Secrets from Today's Cutting-edge Doctors", Crown Publishers, 2008

Last Modified: June 19, 2009