The Consistency and Clinical Significance between Bronchoscopic Samples and Endotracheal or Tracheostomic Aspirates in Severe Pneumonia Under Mechanical Ventilation

摘要

BACKGROUND: Distal airway bacterial colonization occurs more frequently in patients with endotracheal tubes or tracheostomy of intensive care units (ICU) care. In general, bronchoscopic samples are considered more accurate than transtracheal aspirates. In this study, we evaluated the consistency and clinical significance between bronchoscopic samples and transtracheal aspirates (TTA) in severe pneumonia under mechanical ventilation. METHODS: We investigated the consistency between bronchoscopic samples and transtracheal aspirates among patients with endotracheal tubes or tracheostomy, retrospectively. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy was performed in 212 patients with mechanical ventilation via endotracheal tube or tracheostomy between January 1st, 2004 and December 31th, 2008 in ICU at Ewha Womans University Hospital. We evaluated consistency in terms of true pathogen according to the arbitrary ICU days progress. RESULTS: Among the 212 enrolled patients, 113 (53%) had consistency between bronchoscopic samples and transtracheal aspirates.