Comparative study of etiological diagnosis of nosocomial pneumonia.

Nosocomial pneumonia is a common complication in patients on mechanical ventilation and results in significant mortality. Diagnosis of pneumonia in patients who are intubated and under mechanical ventilation is difficult, even with the aid of clinical, laboratory, and endoscopic tests. The objective of this study was to compare three methods of tracheal sputum collection in patients with a clinical and radiological diagnosis of pneumonia.