SUPPORT VENTILATION  SMART 2002 Milan, May 29-31, 2002 Free access

Minerva Anestesiologica 2002 May;68(5):356-9

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Infection control in the intensive care unit. The role of the ventilator circuit

Hess D.

From the Respiratory Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA

Patients are ­more like­ly to devel­op VAP ­from secre­tions aspi­rat­ed ­past the ­cuff of the endo­tra­cheal ­tube ­than by ­what is ­breathed ­through the endo­tra­cheal ­tube. It may be ­more accu­rate to use the ­term “air­way-asso­ciat­ed pneu­mo­nia” rath­er ­than “ven­ti­la­tor-asso­ciat­ed pneu­mo­nia” Sev­er­al stud­ies ­have now report­ed no ­change in VAP ­rates ­when cir­cuits are ­only ­changed on an at-need­ed ­basis. ­There is ­also accu­mu­lat­ing evi­dence ­that pas­sive humid­i­fi­ers and ­closed suc­tion cath­e­ters do not ­need to be ­changed on a dai­ly ­basis.