ABSTRACT
Around one-third of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 develop a severe illness that requires admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). In clinical practice, clinicians have learned that patients admitted to the ICU due to severe COVID-19 frequently develop ventilator-associated lower respiratory tract infections (VA-LRTI). This study aims to describe the clinical characteristics, the factors associated with VA-LRTI, and its impact on clinical outcomes in patients with severe COVID-19. This was a multicentre, observational cohort study conducted in ten countries in Latin America and Europe. We included patients with confirmed rtPCR for SARS-CoV-2 requiring ICU admission and endotracheal intubation. Only patients with a microbiological and clinical diagnosis of VA-LRTI were included. Multivariate Logistic regression analyses and Random Forest were conducted to determine the risk factors for VA-LRTI and its clinical impact in patients with severe COVID-19. In our study cohort of 3287 patients, VA-LRTI was diagnosed in 28.8% [948/3287]. The cumulative incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) was 18.6% [610/3287], followed by ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT) 10.3% [338/3287]. A total of 1252 bacteria species were isolated. The most frequently isolated pathogens were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (21.2% [266/1252]), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (19.1% [239/1252]) and Staphylococcus aureus (15.5% [194/1,252]). The factors independently associated with the development of VA-LRTI were prolonged stay under invasive mechanical ventilation, AKI during ICU stay, and the number of comorbidities. Regarding the clinical impact of VA-LRTI, patients with VAP had an increased risk of hospital mortality (OR [95% CI] of 1.81 [1.40-2.34]), while VAT was not associated with increased hospital mortality (OR [95% CI] of 1.34 [0.98-1.83]). VA-LRTI, often with difficult-to-treat bacteria, is frequent in patients admitted to the ICU due to severe COVID-19 and is associated with worse clinical outcomes, including higher mortality. Identifying risk factors for VA-LRTI might allow the early patient diagnosis to improve clinical outcomes.Trial registration: This is a prospective observational study; therefore, no health care interventions were applied to participants, and trial registration is not applicable.
Subject(s)
Bronchitis , COVID-19 , Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated , Respiratory Tract Infections , Humans , Prospective Studies , COVID-19/complications , SARS-CoV-2 , Respiration, Artificial/adverse effects , Respiratory Tract Infections/complications , Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated/drug therapy , Bronchitis/drug therapy , Ventilators, Mechanical/adverse effects , Risk Factors , Intensive Care UnitsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Mechanical ventilation is used in about one third of patients in intensive cares units (ICU). Ventilator Associated-Pneumonia (VAP) is a frequent infectious complication, affecting approximately 8 to 28% patients. Strategies to prevent the development of VAP are key factors in the management of ICU patients. There have been proposed several strategies to prevent VAP. One of these is oral hygiene with clorhexidine. We evaluated the effect of chlorhexidine on the prevention of VAP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of controlled clinical trials evaluating the effect of oral hygiene on VAP prevention. A PubMed search was performed using the following keywords: "oral care OR oral hygiene OR chlorhexidine AND ventilator-associated pneumonia". An independent reviewer evaluated the studies according to the inclusion criteria and extracted the data. RESULTS: A total of 120 articles were found, and 10 of them met the inclusion criteria. A lack of uniformity was appreciated in the application of chlorhexidine. There was a reduction in the risk of VAP in the chlorhexidine group versus control (OR: 0,56, 95% CI: 0,44-0,73). However, neither a reduction in mortality, nor a length of MV nor an ICU length of stay were seen. CONCLUSIONS: Oral hygiene with chlorhexidine in combination with other strategies for VAP prevention should be included in the patient's ICU care.