Profile of patients in invasive mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit

It was investigated a sample of 55 patients underwent invasive mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit of amedium-size hospital between April and May 2008. The objective was to investigate the most frequent pathologies,the main causes of use of mechanical ventilation, final outcome, length of stay in the intensive care unit and themean time of ventilatory support use. It was elaborated a questionnaire for data collection contained in the recordsfiled in the Department of Medical Records and Statistics (SAME) of the hospital. The main findings indicated thatfemale was the most prevalent; the mean age was 61.62± 21.29 years; the most incident pathological group wasneurology; the main cause of ventilatory support was acute respiratory failure in 63.64%; the average time ofmechanical ventilation was 6.21± 8.06 days and the mean length of stay in the intensive care unit was 8.54± 9.59days. The profile found can provide knowledge about the investigated population, as a basis for team working in theICU enhances its actions, improving the quality of care. Similar studies with larger samples are suggested todetermine regional differences.