When people aspirate very small amounts of food and drink and it enters the lungs, what happens to that food/liquid? Does it go away or just build up?

Question

I’m asking specifically about when you have just a little bit of food matter or liquid “go down the wrong pipe” and it doesn’t make you choke or have to get it removed. Does something happen to it after it enters the lungs?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Someone who is healthy will cough it up or have it cleared by the ciliary escalator. Somebody who is old and/or has neurological problems with impaired ability to cough and swallow can silently aspirate food and liquids for months or years until they eventually develop aspiration pneumonia.