Overview
Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), one of the most common healthcare-associated infections in intensive care settings, is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. VAP is diagnosed in >10% of patient on mechanical ventilation, incidence rising with number of ventilator days. In recent decades, the pathophysiology of VAP, VAP risk factors and treatment have been extensively studied and VAP can be prevented.
Most Recent References
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s New Definitions for Complications of Mechanical Ventilation Shift the Focus of Quality Surveillance and Predict Clinical Outcomes in a PICU. Phongjitsiri S, Coss-Bu J, Kennedy C, Silva J, Starke J, Graf J, Thammasitboon S. Crit Care Med. 2015 Nov;43(11):2446-51
Ventilator-associated pneumonia in neonates, infants and children. Mohammad Hassan Aelami, Mojtaba Lotfi and Walter Zingg. Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control 2014, 3:30
Value of clinical pulmonary infection score in critically ill children as a surrogate for diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. da Silva PS, de Aguiar VE, de Carvalho WB, Machado Fonseca MC. J Crit Care. 2014 Aug;29(4):545-50