Ventilator associated pneumonia and infection control

Table 1 Risk factors for ventilator associated pneumonia

Host factors	Intervention factors	Other factos
Age ≥ 60 yr	Duration of MV	Season: fall, winter
Severity of illness	Reintubation
Organ failure	PEEP
Poor nutritional state or hypoalbuminemia	Frequent ventilator circuit changes
Upper abdominal or thoracic surgery	Nasogastric tube
ARDS	Intracranial pressure monitoring
Chronic lung disease	Paralytic agents, sedation
Neuromuscular disease	H₂ blockers ± antacids
Trauma, burns	>4 units of blood products
Coma, depressed level of consciousness	Supine head position
Large-volume aspiration	Transport out of the ICU
Upper respiratory tract colonization
Gastric colonization and pH
Sinusitis

ISSN: 1476-0711