[Continuous mechanical ventilation in a neurosurgical intensive care unit (one-year analysis of results)].

This was a retrospective study. Its inclusion criterion was mechanical ventilation (MV) for more than 48 hours. One hundred and eighty-four case records of 184 neurosurgical intensive care unit patients were analyzed. Ventilation modes, upper airway cares and prosthetic replacement were chosen by the protocol accepted at the Institute. Great differences were found in the structure of indications for MV and in the duration of respiratory support in relation to the neurosurgical nosological entity and the site of a major process. The upper airway care protocols accepted at the Institute were shown to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Some risk factors for ventilator-associated pneumonia were identified.