Hypothermia at admission increases the risk of pulmonary contusion's infection in intubated trauma patients

Objectives. - Pulmonary contusion (PC) is common in cases of polytrauma. The aim of this study was to perform a multivariate analysis of risk factors associated with the occurrence of infection in PC and analyze the microbiological epidemiology. Patients and methods. - All patients with PC admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) between January 2002 and December 2006 were included in this retrospective observational study. Patients with penetrating thoracic trauma or those who died in the 48 hours following admission to hospital were excluded. Diagnosis of bacterial infection in PC was performed if hyperthermia was associated with a positive quantitative culture (103 colony forming units/mL) on the bronchial sample. Univariate analysis provided statistical difference between variables that were integrated in the multivariate analysis model. Multivariate analysis was then performed to determine the risk factors of bacterial infection in PC. Results. - One hundred and seventeen patients were included. The incidence of bacterial infection in PC was 33.3% (39 patients). The most frequently encountered bacteria were Haemophilus sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas sp. and Streptococcus sp. According to multivariate analysis, the existence of hypothermia at hospital admission increased the risk of PC infection (OR = 2.61: IC 95% [4.2-13.3]). Conclusion. - In conclusion, PC was infected in 33.3% of cases. The existence of hypothermia was identified as a risk factor. A prospective study is warranted to confirm these results. (C) 2012 Societe francaise d'anesthesie et de reanimation (Star). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.