Ventilator Associated Pneumonia Research

Ventilator Associated Pneumonia is one of the many nosocomial bacterial infections that patients in Intensive Care Units might acquire during their stay. VAP is the number one hospital acquired infection contracted in ICU’s. It occurs within 48 hours from prolonged oxygen therapy by endotracheal tube or tracheostomy. Intubation compromises the oropharynx and trachea by obstructing the normal airway. This allows easier access for microorganisms in gastric and oral secretions to enter the lungs and lower respiratory tract which puts the patient at risk for aspiration, infection and mortality. It can increase a patient’s length of stay in the hospital and increases hospital medical costs by thousands of dollars. Many preventative factors have
The purpose of this study was to research probiotic effects in the pediatric population for prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia. Patients were randomized into two groups which were grouped by based on age. Children in the intervention group received a total of 6.6 billion Colony forming unit probiotics preparation twice a day beginning from ICU admission till 7 days or discharge from ICU. The control group did not receive any placebo. Children included in the study were assessed daily for any clinical evidence of VAP. Blood cultures, hemogram or tracheal aspirate cultures were sent every third day or whenever there was clinical suspicion of VAP. Any incidents of VAP, mortality and length of hospital stay were all compared. No complications due to the administration of the probiotics were noted. Clinical findings for this study were that prophylactic probiotics are safe and effective treatment of VAP and resulted in a lower incident in comparison to the control
They all had the same purpose of the study which was to compare the effects of probiotics on ventilator associated pneumonia. Each study compared the length of stay in the hospital, antibiotic usage, length of mechanical ventilation, and mortality. Each study monitored bacterial colonization of microorganisms in the upper digestive tract. Probiotic usage was also found to be a safe intervention of treating VAP with no complications with administration. The probiotics were all given orally or through an NG tube as well as standard VAP prevention precautions were still followed. In all four studies, the conclusion stated that probiotics did decrease the incidents of VAP however, because of the sample size the results were inconclusive. The studies suggested that probiotics slow down the growth of infectious bacterial the causes VAP. There were a few differences between each study as well. Only one of the studies were done on the pediatric population the rest were adult populations. All studies had different inclusion and exclusion criteria for patients but most had to be on mechanical ventilation of greater than 48 hours for inclusion but patients with any immunosuppressant disease were excluded. For example, study 1 had additional exclusions such as multiple organ failure, prior ventilation upon admission or in ability for enteral feeding would be excluded from participation. The probiotic used were different within