Ventilator-associated pneumonia after transport from intensive care units - A real risk

To assess whether transporting patients out of the intensive care unit setting is a risk factor for the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia, we conducted a prospective cohort study of 521 patients admitted to an intensive care unit who required mechanical ventilation for longer than 12 hours. Among the 273 mechanically ventilated patients transported out of the unit, ventilator-associated pneumonia developed in 24.2% compared with 4.4% of the 248 patients not transported. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that previous transport out of the intensive care unit was independently associated with the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia.