Microaspiration of contaminated oropharyngeal secretions and gastric contents frequently occurs in intubated critically ill patients, and plays a major role in the pathogenesis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Quantitative pepsin measurement in tracheal aspirates would be useful in diagnosing microaspiration of gastric contents in intubated critically ill patients. Technetium 99m labelled enteral feeding is the gold standard for the diagnosis of microaspiration. The investigators hypothesized that tracheal pepsin measurement is a good diagnosis marker of microaspiration compared to the gold standard.
See this in plain English?
AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
incidence of pepsin levels ≥200 ng / ml
Timeframe: from the start to 6 hours after beginning of 99m technetium labelled enteral feeding