Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common nosocomial infection in the United States resulting in negative patient outcomes and increased healthcare costs.1
VAP is estimated to occur in 9-25% of all ICU patients alone (Ref. 2-4)
VAP is a costly complication of hospitalization that lengthens ICU and hospital stay and increases morbidity and mortality (Ref. 5)
Mortality that is directly attributable to VAP is estimated to be as high as 27% (Ref. 6,10,25)
VAP is associated with more than $40,000 in increased hospital costs per patient and may be higher in certain types of patient care units (Ref. 5)
Current commonly used modalities of treatment involve recumbent positioning, oral hygiene, and some form of aspiration typically performed by nurses through use of a simple syringe and in some facilities by nurses attaching the patient’s tracheal or endotracheal tube suction port to either wall suction or portable (multi-purpose) suction devices (Ref. 8-9,16,19-20,25)
Emerging research indicates that aspiration of subglottic secretions and specifically the intermittent aspiration of subglottic secretions is extremely helpful in the reduction of the incidence of VAP (Ref. 18-20,25,36-39)