Clinical epidemiology and outcomes of ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill adult patients: protocol for a large-scale systematic review and planned meta-analysis.

Background: An increasing number of studies have investigated the clinical epidemiology and outcomes of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in intensive care units. However, these findings have not been clearly defined in broad subgroups of mechanically ventilated adults. Hence, this protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis is designed to better understand the clinical and epidemiological features of VAP in these patient populations by establishing its overall prognosis of and risk factors for morbidity and mortality and to determine the differences in clinical and economic outcomes between VAP and non-VAP patients.

Exposure to reprocessed single-use tracheal suction catheter and ventilator-associated pneumonia risk: A preliminary, single unit-based, matched case-control study.

Purpose: The reuse of reprocessed single-use suction catheter for suctioning an amount of tracheal secretion among orally intubated, mechanically ventilated patients, who are at risk of acquiring ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), has not been thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to examine the association between the repetitive use of reprocessed single-use suction catheter and VAP development.

Materials And Methods: A preliminary, single unit-based investigation was designed as matched case-control study to extract data from hospital's existing 5-year VAP report and inpatients' clinical records.