Objective: To deepen the understanding about ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
Method: Patients admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit from Jan 1996 approximately Oct 1999 were divided into two groups, with or without VAP, according to the diagnosis criteria. The comparative analysis was performed in clinical characteristics, risk factors, distribution of pathological organisms and prognosis.
Results: The incidence of VAP was 48.3% (28/58 cases). The cases with deep venous catheter in VAP group were much more than non-VAP group P < 0.05 . The duration of ventilation >/= 20 days among the patients of VAP group was 32.1%,while it was 6.7% in non-VAP group. 53 microorganisms were isolated from 25 patients with VAP. The main pathogens were Acinetobacter spp (32.1%), P. Aeruginosa (20.8%) and C.albicans (22.6%). The mortality rate of VAP group was 32.1%, significantly higher than that of non-VAP group (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: The risk factors of VAP may be the use of deep venous catheter and long duration of ventilation. The main pathogens were Acinetobacter species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and yeasts. The presence of VAP could significantly increase the mortality of patients.