Is bronchoalveolar lavage with quantitative cultures a useful tool for diagnosing ventilator-associated pneumonia?

Table 2 Results of the randomized studies of diagnostic techniques

		28-day mortality (%)		Antibiotic usage
Study	Sample size	Invasive arm	Clinical arm	Invasive arm	Clinical arm
Sanchez-Nieto et al. [5]	51	45.8	26.7	ND	ND
Ruiz et al. [6]	76	37.8	46.1	13 ± 4^a	12 ± 4
Sole Violan et al. [7]	88	22.2	20.9	ND	ND
Fagon et al. [8]	413	30.9	38.8	11.5 ± 9.0^b	7.5 ± 7.6
Canadian Critical Care Trials Group [1]	739	18.9	18.4	10.4 ± 7.5^c	10.6 ± 7.9

ND, not determined. ^aRuiz et al. [6] reported the total duration of antibiotic treatment; p = 0.48. ^bFagon et al. [8] reported antibiotic-free days; p < 0.002. ^cThe Canadian Critical Care Trials Group [1] reported antibiotic-free days; p = 0.86.

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