Do guidelines change outcomes in ventilator-associated pneumonia?
Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2010 Feb 3; Authors: Bassi GL, Ferrer M, Saucedo LM, Torres A PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of the study is to summarize effects of implementation of current and past guidelines for management and treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) on outcome of intensive care patients, with particular focus on etiology of VAP, pathogens prediction, appropriate empiric antibiotic therapy and mortality. RECENT FINDINGS: Several studies have shown that in patients with clinical suspicion of VAP, appropriate antibiotic therapy administered in a timely manner can improve survival. Guidelines for management and treatment of VAP have been developed to help physicians to achieve those goals. Implementation of guidelines into clinical practice is difficult to achieve and requires extensive education for healthcare personnel and translation of recommendations into local protocols. Studies have shown that guidelines implementation is associated with better outcome. However,
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