Correlation of ventilator-associated pneumonia with gastroesophageal reflux

Objective: To explore the correlation of gastroesophageal reflux with ventilator-associated \npneumonia (VAP). Methods: A total of 84 patients who were performed with mechanical \nassisted ventilation in our hospital were included in the study. The pharyngeal and tracheal \nsecretions 2 d (T1), 4 d (T2), and 6 d (T3) after mechanical ventilation were collected, \nrespectively. ELISA was used to detect the pepsin concentration. The clinical pulmonary \ninfection score (CPIS) was performed to the patients in order to analyze the correlation of \npepsin concentration with CPIS. Results: The positive rate of pharyngeal pepsin at T1 was \n16.7%, at T2 was 54.8%, and at T3 was 78.6%. The positive rate of pepsin was increased \nwith the extending of mechanical ventilation time. The comparison of pepsin concentration \nin the pharyngeal secretions at T1 between the VAP patients and non-VAP patients was not \nstatistically significant, but the pepsin concentration in the tracheal secretions was significantly \nhigher than that in the non-VAP patients. The pepsin concentration in the pharyngeal and \ntracheal secretions at T2 and T3 in the VAP patients was significantly higher than that in the \nnon-VAP patients. The pepsin concentration in the tracheal secretions in the VAP patients was \nassociated with CPIS. Conclusions: The positive rate of pepsin concentration in the pharyngeal \nand tracheal secretions in the VAP patients is increased with the extending of mechanical \nventilation time. The positive rate of pepsin concentration in the tracheal secretions at each \ntiming point in the VAP patients is significantly higher than that in the non-VAP patients. The \npepsin concentration in the pharyngeal and tracheal secretions in the VAP patients is positively \ncorrelated with CPIS.