Resumen

GONZALEZ AGUILERA, Julio César  y  ARIAS ORTIZ, Armando. Neumonía nosocomial en la unidad de cuidados intensivos. Rev cubana med [online]. 1997, vol.36, n.2, pp. 100-105. ISSN 1561-302X.

A retrospective, descriptive, and longitudinal study of nosocomial pneumonia was carried out at the Intensive Care Unit of "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes" general provincial teaching hospital from Bayamo over a 2-year period. Nosocomial pneumonia was detected in 81 patients accounting for 9.3 % of the total number of admitted patients. Major thoraccic and abdominal surgical procedures (30.9 %), and polytraumatisms (26.8 % are found to be the principal reasons for hospital admissions. Artificial mechanical ventilation was pointed out as an associated risk factor (74.0 %). The most frequently isolated germ was Enterobacter s.p. (42. 4 %) followed in decreasing order by Pseudomona s.p. (27.1 %). Although it is difficult to accurately determine the index of mortality attributable to this kind of infection, 35.8 % of patients died during their stay at the Intensive Care Unit. The occurrence of the clinical picture within the third and fourth days in the greatest percentage of patients studied suggests that clinical, radiologic, and microbiological surveillance is essential.

Palabras clave : CROSS INFECTION [microbiology]; PNEUMONIA [microbiology]; ENTEROBACTER [isolation & purification]; PSEUDOMONA [isolation & purification]; INTENSIVE CARE UNITS.