Ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT ) - systematic review

Abstract

Ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT), along with the relatively well-studied ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), form the ventilator-associated lower respiratory tract inflammation (VA-LRTI ) disease group, which is undoubtedly a significant challenge for Intensive care units (ICUs) staff caring for mechanically ventilated patients daily. Recently, the topic of VAT has been increasingly addressed and researched to better understand and comprehend this disease unit. Despite its still uncertain definition, VAT is recognized as a disease entity independent of VAP, considered by many researchers to be either an intermediate stage or a risk factor for faster progression of VAP. Based on the available literature and the experience of the authors, we have selected 31 articles published between 2004 and 2023 that are both research and review papers in order to systematise the basic information and diagnosis of VAT, as well as to show the complexity of the problem, which is the issue of treatment and co-occurrence of VAT in critical patients as well as complicated by other respiratory diseases. It is hoped that this review will allow will enable medical personnel, especially those who work on a daily basis with patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, to look at VAT from a different angle and encourage further research to understand it better.