Recommendations for treatment of hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia: review of recent international guidelines.
Recently published guidelines for the management of hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia are reviewed for recommendations regarding diagnosis and antimicrobial therapy to assess the implications for development of future clinical trials. Despite some differences (mostly related to likely pathogens), there is a general agreement about the recommended approach to management. All of the reviewed guidelines invariably recommend early, appropriate antimicrobial therapy and avoidance of excessive antimicrobials by deescalation of therapy on the basis of microbiological culture results and the clinical response of the patient. Developers of future clinical trials will need to be mindful of these recommendations to maintain best practice care for each investigator.
File
Thomas M
TM
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, and Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio, USA. FileT@summa-health.org
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013997:Time Factors
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents