The effectiveness of a bundle in the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a bundle called FAST HUG in ventilator-associated pneumonia, weigh the healthcare costs of ventilator-associated pneumonia patients in the intensive care unit, and hospital mortality due to ventilator-associated pneumonia.


METHODS
The study was performed in a private hospital that has an 8-bed intensive care unit. It was divided into two phases: before implementing FAST HUG, from August 2011 to August 2012 and after the implementation of FAST HUG, from September 2012 to December 2013. An individual form for each patient in the study was filled out by using information taken electronically from the hospital medical records. The following data was obtained from each patient: age, gender, reason for hospitalization, use of three or more antibiotics, length of stay, intubation time, and outcome.


RESULTS
After the implementation of FAST HUG, there was an observable decrease in the occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (p<0.01), as well as a reduction in mortality rates (p<0.01). In addition, the intervention resulted in a significant reduction in intensive care unit hospital costs (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of FAST HUG reduced the number of ventilator-associated pneumonia cases. Thus, decreasing costs, reducing mortality rates and length of stay, which therefore resulted in an improvement to the overall quality of care.
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
Cléria Rodrigues
CR
Ferreira
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
Denis Fabiano
DF
de Souza
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
Thulio Marques
TM
Cunha
Faculdade de Matemática, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
Marcelo
M
Tavares
Instituto do Coração do Triângulo Mineiro, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
Samir Seme Arab
SS
Reis
Escola Técnica de Saúde, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
Reginaldo Santos
RS
Pedroso
Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil. Electronic address: denise.roder@ufu.br.
Denise Von Dolinger de Brito
DV
Röder
D018806:APACHE; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015996:Survival Rate
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
Checklist; Cost; Mortality; Ventilator-associated pneumonia