• J N Han, Y P Liu, S Ma, Y J Zhu, S H Sui, X J Chen, D M Luo, A B Adams, and J J Marini.
• Respiratory Care Center, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. janet_han2000@hotmail.com
• Resp Care. 2001 Sep 1;46(9):891-6.

IntroductionWe investigated whether decreasing ventilator circuit changes from every 2 days to every 7 days would impact ventilator-associated pneumonia rates at our institution.MethodsAll mechanically ventilated patients at Peking Union Medical College Hospital were studied over a 21 month period. From March 1998 to February 1999, ventilator circuits were changed every 2 days, and from June through December 1999, ventilator circuits were changed every 7 days. Nosocomial pneumonia was identified using the criteria of the Centers for Disease Control.ResultsIn the 2-day-change group, there were 2,277 ventilator-patient days and 38 patients developed pneumonia, resulting in a pneumonia rate of 16.7 cases per 1,000 ventilator days. The 7-day-change group accumulated 972 ventilator days and 8 patients contracted pneumonia, resulting in a pneumonia rate of 8.2 cases per 1,000 ventilator days. The pneumonia rate was significantly lower in the 7-day-change group (p = 0.007). To standardize for seasonal variability, we compared results from the same seasonal time frames (June to December 1998 for the 2-day-change group, and June to December 1999 for the 7-day-change group), and obtained similar findings: during those periods, pneumonia rates were 24.2 cases per 1,000 ventilator days for the 2-day-change group and 8.9 cases per 1,000 ventilator days for the 7-day-change group (p = 0.001).ConclusionsA circuit change interval of 7 days had a lower risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia than a 2-day change interval. Therefore, ventilator circuits can be safely changed every 7 days in our setting.

19 keywords...

hide…