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Initiative reduced pediatric ICU airway infections
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A combined multidisciplinary health care approach with a range of preventive measures may reduce the rate of ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis by at least 50% among children in the pediatric ICU, according to recent study findings published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.
The prospective pre- and post-interventional study included 725 children admitted to the pediatric ICU who received invasive mechanical ventilation for at least 48 hours between March 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2011.
Researchers found that at baseline, the rate of ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis was 3.9 cases per 1,000 ventilator days vs. 1.8 cases for 1,000 ventilator days post-intervention (P=.04). After 18 months, cases of ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis decreased by 53% compared with pre-intervention rates.
“Implementation of an evidence-based care bundle to prevent ventilator-associated airway infection by a multidisciplinary team with real-time feedback was associated with a reduced rate of [ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis] in our PICU,” researchers wrote. “Development of [ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis] was independently associated with adverse outcomes in our cohort of PICU patients, suggesting that it may represent a clinically relevant hospital-acquired infection.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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