Abstract:〔Abstract〕 Objective To investigate the effect of bronchoalveolar lavage with acetylcysteine combined with budesonide nebulization in the treatment of severe pneumonia in the elderly. Methods A total of 65 elderly patients with severe pneumonia who were admitted to Shangrao People's Hospital from January 2021 to October 2022 were selected as the research subjects. They were divided into a control group (30 cases) and an observation group (35 cases) according to different treatment methods. The control group received bronchoalveolar lavage with 0.9 % sodium chloride injection on the basis of conventional treatment, while the observation group received bronchoalveolar lavage with acetylcysteine combined with budesonide nebulization on the basis of conventional treatment. The clinical efficacy, clinical indicators, inflammatory indicators, and pulmonary function in the two groups were compared. Results The total clinical effective rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The fever abatement time, time for expectoration, cough and lung rales disappearing, and length of hospital stay in the observation group were shorter than those in the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, peripheral blood white blood cells (WBC) count, the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and FEV1/ FVC in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Bronchoalveolar lavage with acetylcysteine combined with budesonide nebulization is effective in the treatment of severe pneumonia in the elderly. The combined treatment can significantly shorten the treatment time, relieve inflammatory response and improve pulmonary function.