Efficacy of the Fuzheng Jiedu Huayu decoction plus antibiotics in the management of drug-resistant bacterial pneumonia in elderly patients

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of the Fuzheng Jiedu Huayu decoction combined with antibiotics in elderly patients with drug-resistant bacterial pneumonia.

Methodology: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 166 elderly patients with drug-resistant bacterial pneumonia who were admitted to Beijing Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine between January 2022 and June 2025. Patients were assigned to either the control group(n= 83, treated with antibiotics alone) or the observation group(n= 83, treated with antibiotics plus Fuzheng Jiedu Huayu decoction). After 14 days of treatment, the two groups were compared in terms of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndrome scores, serum inflammatory markers chest computed tomography (CT) absorption rate of pulmonary infiltrates, sputum pathogen clearance rate, overall clinical response rate (ORR), and adverse events.

Results: After treatment, both groups showed significant reductions in cough, productive cough, dyspnea/wheezing, and fever scores, with the observation group demonstrating significantly lower TCM syndrome scores compared with the control group(P< 0.05, respectively).The observation group achieved significantly higher rates of chest CT absorption of inflammatory infiltrates (81.93% vs. 68.67%), ORR (84.34% vs. 71.08%), and sputum pathogen clearance (81.93% vs. 67.47%) compared with the control group(P< 0.05, respectively). The incidence of adverse events did not differ significantly between groups(P> 0.05).

Conclusion: The combination of the Fuzheng Jiedu Huayu decoction with antibiotics may significantly improve clinical symptoms, suppress inflammatory responses, enhance oxygenation, promote resolution of pulmonary inflammation, and increase pathogen clearance and clinical efficacy in elderly patients with drug-resistant bacterial pneumonia.