NEW ORLEANS—Despite limited data on ventilator-acquired pneumonia (VAP) in trauma patients, rates are reported to the trauma quality improvement program (TQIP) by all American College of Surgeons–verified trauma centers. New research, however, found VAP to be underreported in the trauma registry, calling into question its use as a quality metric.
“Recent studies have noted that trauma patients are often already colonized or infected with respiratory bacteria on presentation,