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NIH funds effort to reduce VAP
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The NIH recently awarded Mary Lou Sole, PhD, RN, of the University of Central Florida, a $2.3 million grant to improve the use of breathing tubes and reduce the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia, according the university.
Sole, the interim dean of the UCF College of Nursing and Orlando Health Distinguished Professor, has spent more than 2 decades studying the practice of managing critically ill patients with breathing tubes. In her research, she identified a way to remove saliva and other fluids from patients’ mouths to reduce the risk for aspiration, a leading cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). During the next 4 years, Sole and colleagues will evaluate whether regular removal of these fluids will prevent complications from medical ventilation in patients at ICUs at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Mary Lou Sole
The research team will also assess patients for a specific biomarker found in saliva. If found in the lungs, the protein would indicate that the patient has aspirated secreted fluids from the mouth.
VAP is one of the most common types of hospital-acquired infections in the ICU, occurring in 10% to 20% of patients receiving mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours, according to researchers. Rates of VAP in the US vary depending on the type of hospital unit. In 2012, National Healthcare Safety Network facilities reported approximately 4,000 VAPs, with an incidence ranging from 0.0-0.4 per 1,000 ventilator days. According to one study, the median treatment cost for patients with VAP totaled $198,200 vs. $96,540 for matched control patients (P<.001). VAP is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and hospital lengths of stay.
“We want to prevent complications,” Sole said in a press release. “We want to improve outcomes, reduce harms and improve the quality of life for patients. If we can do that, there also will likely be a difference in the cost associated with treatment…”
Sole also is a clinical nurse specialist and research scientist at Orlando Health, and a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the American College of Critical Medicine.
For more information:
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Kollef MH. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2012;33:250-256.
Krein SL. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2008;29:933-940.