Evaluation of the Review of Automated Ventilator Data's Effect on the Incidence of Ventilator Associated Events in a Medical Surgical Intensive Care Unit

This study will be a retrospective review of data via chart review of all mechanically ventilated patients in an Intensive Care unit meeting our inclusion criteria during the pre-implementation and post-implementation phases of the study. Data will be collected and a detailed analysis of outcomes will be performed. The major parameters that will be measured will focus on the rate of ventilator associated events during each phases of the analysis.

Ventilator associated events will be defined as Ventilator associated Conditions (VACs), Infection related Ventilator Associated Conditions (IVACs) and Probable Ventilator Associated Pneumonias (PVAPs). According to the Center for Disease & Control a VAC occurs after a patients has ≥ 2 days of stable or decreasing minimum FiO2 or PEEP values and then experiences at least one of the following: increased in the daily minimum FiO2 of ≥ 0.20 over the daily minimum FiO2 in the baseline period, sustained for ≥ 2 calendar days or increase in the daily minimum PEEP values of ≥ 3 cmH2O over the daily minimum PEEP in the baseline period sustained for ≥ 2 calendar days. An IVAC is defined as the occurrence on or after calendar day 3 of mechanical ventilation and within 2 calendar days before or after the onset of worsening oxygenation, the patient meets both of the following criteria: 1) Temperature > 38C, or white blood cell count ≥ 12,000 cells/mm3 or ≤ 4,000 cells/mm3 and a new antimicrobial agents(s) is started for ≥ 4 calendar days. A PVAP is occurs when a patient meets the criteria for a VAC and IVAC and one of the following criteria are met: 1) Purulent respiratory secretions (from one or more specimen collections). 2) Positive culture (qualitative, semi-quantitative) of sputum, endotracheal aspirate, bronchoalveolar lavage, lung tissue, or protected specimen brushing.