Aust Crit Care
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Meta Analysis
Subglottic secretion drainage for preventing ventilator associated pneumonia: a meta-analysis.
Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in the intensive care unit (ICU) has been shown to be associated with significant morbidity and mortality.(1-3) It has been reported to affect between 9 and 27% of intubated patients receiving mechanical ventilation.(4-6) OBJECTIVE: A meta-analysis was undertaken to combine information from published studies of the effect of subglottic drainage of secretions on the incidence of ventilated associated pneumonia in adult ICU patients. ⋯ This meta-analysis of published randomized control trials shows that almost one-half of cases of VAP may be prevented with the use of specialized endotracheal tubes designed to drain subglottic secretions. Time on mechanical ventilation may be reduced and time to development of VAP may be increased, but no reduction in ICU or hospital mortality has been observed in published trials.