RT Journal Article
T1 Body position for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia for critically ill patients: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
A1 Pozuelo-Carrascosa, Diana P
A1 Cobo-Cuenca, Ana Isabel
A1 Carmona-Torres, Juan Manuel
A1 Laredo-Aguilera, Jose Alberto
A1 Santacruz-Salas, Esmeralda
A1 Fernandez-Rodriguez, Ruben
K1 Body position
K1 Prone
K1 Semi-recumbent
K1 Supine
K1 Ventilator-associated pneumonia
AB The evidence about the best body position to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is unclear. The aim of this study was to know what the best body position is to prevent VAP, shorten the length of intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stay, and reduce mortality among patients undergoing mechanical ventilation (MV). We performed a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials including intubated patients undergoing MV and admitted to an ICU. The assessed interventions were different body positions (i.e., lateral, prone, semi-recumbent) or alternative degrees of positioning in mechanically ventilated patients. Semi-recumbent and prone positions showed a risk reduction of VAP incidence (RR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.25-0.52) and mortality (RR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50-0.91), respectively, compared to the supine position. The ranking probabilities and the surface under the cumulative ranking displayed as the first best option of treatment the semi-recumbent position to reduce the incidence of VAP (71.4%), the hospital length of stay (68.9%), and the duration of MV (67.6%); and the prone position to decrease the mortality (89.3%) and to reduce the ICU length of stay (59.3%). Cautiously, semi-recumbent seems to be the best position to reduce VAP incidence, hospital length of stay and the duration of MV. Prone is the most effective position to reduce the risk of mortality and the ICU length of stay, but it showed no effect on the VAP incidence. 
PB BioMed Central
SN 2052-0492
YR 2022
FD 2022-02-09
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/20375
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/20375
LA en
NO Pozuelo-Carrascosa DP, Cobo-Cuenca AI, Carmona-Torres JM, Laredo-Aguilera JA, Santacruz-Salas E, Fernandez-Rodriguez R. Body position for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia for critically ill patients: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. J Intensive Care. 2022 Feb 22;10(1):9
DS RISalud
RD Jul 31, 2025