〔Abstract〕 Objective To analyze the therapeutic effect of etimicin combined with third-generation cephalosporins on elderly patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Methods A total of 180 elderly patients with community-acquired pneumonia admitted to the 989 Hospital of the 989 Hospital of the Liberation Army Joint Service Support Force from January 2022 to January 2023 were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, with 90 patients in each group. The control group was treated with third-generation cephalosporin, and the observation group was treated with etimicin on the basis of the control group. The levels of serum inflammatory factors, clinical efficacy, occurrence of adverse reactions and symptom improvement time were compared between the two groups. Results After treatment, the levels of serum transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in the observation group were higher than those in the control group, and the levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were lower than those in the control group, with statistical significance (P < 0.05). The clinical efficacy rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P > 0.05). Fever decreased, cough frequency decreased, yellow sputum volume decreased, lung rales disappeared time in the observation group were shorter than those in the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion Etimicin combined with third-generation cephalosporins in the treatment of elderly community-acquired pneumonia can help improve the clinical efficacy,reduce the level of inflammatory factors, and promote the improvement of symptoms.