American journal of infection control
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Am J Infect Control · Feb 1998
ReviewVentilator-associated pneumonia and frequency of circuit changes.
The purpose of this research was to determine whether changing tubing circuits for mechanical ventilation less often than every 48 hours would allow maintenance of acceptably low rates for ventilator-associated pneumonia. ⋯ The weight of the evidence indicates that breathing circuits should be changed every 7 days. This practice of routine changes should be abandoned only if additional studies demonstrate that prolonged use of the same breathing circuit is associated with low rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia.