• J Hunter, S Annadurai, and M Rothwell.
• Macclesfield District General Hospital, Department of Anaesthetics and Intensive Care, Macclesfield, UK. john.hunter@echeshire-tr.nwest.nhs.uk
• Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2007 Nov 1;24(11):971-7.

Background And ObjectiveVentilator-associated pneumonia is a nosocomial infection that occurs in patients receiving mechanical ventilation for >48 h. Many aspects of its diagnosis, treatment and management are controversial. We used a postal questionnaire to survey current practice within the UK.MethodsQuestionnaire study of 207 general intensive care units in the UK.ResultsThe response rate was 77.3%. Regarding diagnosis, 30% of units obtained specimens from the lungs invasively, while the remainder relied on tracheal aspirates. In only 28.2% of units using tracheal aspirates were results reported in a quantitative manner. A clinical suspicion of ventilator-associated pneumonia would lead to the administration of empirical antibiotic therapy in the majority of units (77.2%), opinion being almost equally divided on whether this should be mono (49.1%) or combination therapy (50.9%). Although most units received regular microbiology feedback (90.5%), the involvement of a microbiologist in the antibiotic decision-making process was variable. Antibiotics were continued for a median of 7 days (inter-quartile range 5-8.5, range 2-14 days). Compliance with the principal methods of ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention was good.ConclusionThere is widespread variation in the methods used for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia within the UK. The majority of units rely on non-quantitative analysis of tracheal aspirates. This technique has a high percentage of false-positives, and suggests widespread over utilization of antibiotics. However, most agree that antibiotics should be given empirically when there is a clinical suspicion of ventilator-associated pneumonia. The widespread introduction of 'ventilator bundles' appears to have ensured that most units actively take measures to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia.

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