Effects of Three Different Airway Humidification Methods on Incidence of Ventilator-associated Pneumonia

Objective To investigate the influence of three different airway humidification methods on incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia(VAP).Methods Sixty patients with artificial airway and mechanical ventilator in ICU of Ruijin hospital from Sep 2006 to Sep 2008 were equally divided into three groups based on order sequences: Group A treated with instant humidification and artificial nose,Group B with lasting humidification and infusion set;Group C with humiditifier.Temperature,leucocyte numbers,neutrophillic leucocyte,bacterial culture of sputum of all the patients were observed for 2 to 4 weeks.Results Patients with lasting humidification and infusion set had the lowest incidence(20%) of VAP,which had significant difference compared with other groups(χ2=19.798,P0.01).Conclusions Lasting humidification with infusion set was expected to be a better solution for airway humidification.