Monitoring
Follow-up is not routinely needed in children who recover fully without complications.[9]
After discharge, follow up any child who has had severe pneumonia or CAP complicated by empyema or lung abscesses, until their chest x-ray has returned to near-normal and they have made a complete clinical recovery.[3][9]
A follow-up chest radiograph is not required in uncomplicated patients who recover uneventfully from CAP.[1][9]
Obtain repeat chest x-rays 4-6 weeks after the diagnosis of CAP in children with recurrent pneumonia involving the same lobe, or with persistent atelectasis, other causes such as anatomic anomaly, chest mass, airway compression by lymph nodes, or foreign body aspiration.[1]
Consider follow-up chest x-ray for any child with round pneumonia, lobar collapse, or persistent symptoms.[9]
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