Infectious Disease Compendium

Tracheobronchitis

Epidemiology

There is the outpatient form of the disease, with a cough. It is usually viral and requires symptomatic treatment.

There is the inpatient form, associated with endotracheal tubes and tracheostomy.

Microbiology

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli. Whatever colonizes the tube.

Diagnosis

Ventilator-associated is a purulent tracheal aspirate, a fever > 38°C with no other recognizable cause, a positive tracheal aspirate culture with > than 1 × 10^6 colony-forming units/mL, and no new infiltrate on chest x-ray.

Treatment

It depends on what grows.

Pearls

Treating ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis decreases pneumonia and death and leads to earlier extubation. But it is not a clear cut situation (PubMed)

Rants

Always ignore the Candida in the ET tube.

Curious Cases

Relevant links to my Medscape blog

What, Me Worry?

Last Update: 03/11/19.