Neumonía asociada a la ventilación mecánica.

The ventilator-associated pneumonia occurs in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation for periods longer than 48 hours. Ventilator- associated pneumonia incidence is reported in literature of 10 to 20% of patients. The early-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia is defi ned as pneumonia diagnosed between the third and seventh day. The late-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia is defi ned as pneumonia diagnosed after the seventh day. Many risk factors contribute to the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia. The most frequent associated are gram-negative bacilli: Aeuriginosa pseudomonas, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (40%), Enterobacter sp (29%), and Gram-positive cocci: Staphylococcus aureus (21%). Set a proper diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia is one of the most important and diffi cult issues in the care of critically ill patients. There are strategies for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia, but only a few have proven effective. The attributable mortality is still debated, and has been associated with ranges of 20-70%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]