Patient Transport Increases VAP Risk

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), one of the infections most commonly acquired by intensive care unit (ICU) patients, has an attributable mortality rate of 33% to 50%. Although many risk factors for VAP have been identified, preventive efforts depend on determining all such factors. In a recent matched cohort study, researchers assessed whether within-hospital transportation for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures increases VAP risk among mechanically ventilated ICU patients. Subjects were adults admitted in 2001 and 2002 to a single 18-bed medical-surgical ICU in France.

Of 523 patients who were mechanically ventilated for >48 hours, 228 were transported outside the ICU. Through a matching process that involved six factors including d…