Ventilator-associated pneumonia in the intermediate care unit

Abstract

Introduction: ventilator-associated pneumonias cause great concerns to physicians who pose serious diagnostic difficulties that often lead to disproportionate therapeutic decisions that favor the genesis of antimicrobial resistance.
Objective: to characterize pneumonias associated to mechanical ventilation in the Intermediate Care Unit of the “Arnaldo Milián Castro” Hospital.
Methods: an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in the Intermediate Care Unit of the “Arnaldo Milián Castro” Hospital in 2021. The population of patients who developed pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation (73) was studied. A documentary review guide was used as an instrument for data collection; data were collected from the individual clinical history of patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia, from the admission book and from the Service's infection control register.
Results: the diseases that most frequently led the patient to mechanically assisted ventilation were cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory distress and sepsis. Symptoms became evident in the first nine days of the patient's admission. A greater isolation of Gram-negative germs was obtained, including Acinetobacter.
Conclusions: ventilator-associated pneumonias were more frequently observed in male patients over 60 years of age; they were more frequently associated with cerebrovascular diseases and, in most cases, symptoms appeared between four and six days; Acinetobacter, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus were the most frequently isolated germs and half of the patients were discharged dead.