Comparison of Mini-bronchoalveolar Lavage Technique with Endotracheal Aspirate and Bronchoscopic Specimens in Isolating Ventilator- associated Pneumonia Factors in Patients Under Intensive Care

Objective: Our study aimed to compare the mini-bronchoalveolar lavage (mini-BAL) method with the classical methods of endotracheal aspiration (ETA) and BAL in patients followed up in the intensive care unit (ICU) diagnosed with nosocomial pneumonia. Materials and Methods: Our study comprised 30 patients who were followed up with a suspicion of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) between February 2014 and January 2015 at Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, ICU.Results: A total of 40% (12 people) of the patients were women, 60% (18 people) were men, and the mean age was 54.23 +/- 21.37 years. The mean duration of mechanical ventilation was 9.7 +/- 22.8 days. The mean Simplified Acute Physiology Score III of the patients was 36.06 +/- 8.46, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II score was 21.36 +/- 4.90, and the Clinical Pulmoner Infection score was 5.90 +/- 1.91. The consistency of the mini-BAL method, according to bronchoscopy, was 86.7%, and its consistency, compared with tracheal aspiration, was 63.3%. The consistency between the ETA and bronchoscopy method was 60%.Conclusion: Therefore, in the comparison of the methods used in the diagnosis of patients with suspected VAP in the ICU, mini-BAL gave reliable results in the early period.