Objective To explore the efficacy of San’ao tablets combined with cefuroxime sodium in the treatment of elderly patients with emphysema and its effects on airway resistance indexes and blood PMN and IL-17. Methods A total of 124 elderly patients with emphysema were enrolled and divided into observation group (n=62) and control group (n=62) according to the random number table method. Control group was given cefuroxime sodium alone, and observation group was given San’ao tablets on this basis. The airway resistance indexes [total airway resistance (R5), central airway resistance (R20)], peripheral blood polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) and serum interleukin-17 (IL-17) were compared between the two groups before treatment and after 2 weeks of treatment. The treatment effects and incidence rate of adverse drug reactions were compared between the two groups. Results After 2 weeks of treatment, the improvements of R5, R20, PMN and IL-17 levels in observation group were higher than those in control group (all P<0.05), and the effective rate of treatment was significantly higher than that in control group (P<0.05), and there were no significant differences in the adverse reactions between the groups (P>0.05). Conclusion San’ao tablets combined with cefuroxime sodium can effectively reduce the airway resistance indexes and blood PMN and IL-17 levels in elderly patients with emphysema, and it is conducive to the prognosis and recovery.