Importance, morbidity, and mortality of pneumonia in the surgical intensive care unit.

Surgical patients are at high risk to develop nosocomial pneumonia, although an accurate diagnosis is difficult to make. Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are the most common pathogens, but Acinetobacteris emerging as an important pathogen. Because affected patients are often critically ill with multisystem pathology, it can be difficult to ascribe morbidity or mortality directly to the infection.