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Case Reports
. 2012 Jun 20;307(23):2534-9.
doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.6445.

Preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia: does the evidence support the practice?

Naomi P O'Grady  1 , Patrick R Murray, Nancy Ames
Affiliations
Case Reports

Preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia: does the evidence support the practice?

Naomi P O'Grady et al. JAMA. .

Abstract

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is among the most common infections in patients requiring endotracheal tubes with mechanical ventilation. Ventilator-associated pneumonia is associated with increased hospital costs, a greater number of days in the intensive care unit, longer duration of mechanical ventilation, and higher mortality. Despite widely accepted recommendations for interventions designed to reduce rates of VAP, few studies have assessed the ability of these interventions to improve patient outcomes. As the understanding of VAP advances and new technologies to reduce VAP become available, studies should directly assess patient outcomes before the health care community implements specific prevention approaches in clinical practice.

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Figures

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Figure 2
Lung Pathology. Lung parenchyma showing abundant bacterial elements (hematoxylineosin stain; original magnification _40×).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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