Effect of ventilator bundle on ventilator associated pneumonia in the patients with severe traumatic brain injury

Objective To investigate the value of ventilator bundle for ventilator associated pneumonia(VAP) in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.Methods A before and after design was used in this single center study.41 consecutive severe traumatic brain injury patients with mechanical ventilation(MV) in intense care unit(ICU) of the first people's hospital of Pinghu form June 2008 to May 2010 were included.The ventilator bundle included elevating the patient's head,strengthen oropharyngeal care,intermittent subglottic irrigation and drainage,washing hands,changing ventilator circuits at a regular interval,The temperature,sputum amount,WBC count,chest X-ray examination and the lower respiratory tract bacterial culture,the days of MV and ICU stay,mortality within 28 days were observed,Another 44 MV patients with conventional care in the hospital from June 2006 to May 2008 were compared as control.Results The morbidity of patients with VAP was significantly decreased after ventilator bundle,the length of ICU stay was shorter in patients with ventilator bundle than those in patients of control group.Conclusion Using of the ventilator bundle can effectively decrease the incidence of VAP in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.