Ventilator-associated pneumonia and mortality: A systematic review of observational studies *

There is no evidence of attributable mortality due to ventilator–associated pneumonia in patients with trauma or acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, in other nonspecified patient groups, there is evidence for attributable mortality due to ventilator–associated pneumonia, but this could not be quantified due to heterogeneity in study results. More detailed studies, allowing subgroup analyses, are needed to determine the attributable mortality of ventilator–associated pneumonia in these patient populations.