Inhaled Antibiotics for Ventilator-Associated Infections

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Updated: Feb 25, 2026

Halogenated Agent Delivery in Porcine Model of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome via an Intensive Care Unit Type Device
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Halogenated Agent Delivery in Porcine Model of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome via an Intensive Care Unit Type Device

Published on: September 24, 2020

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Lucy B Palmer1

  • 1Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Division, SUNY at Stony Brook, HSC T17-040, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8172, USA.

Infectious Disease Clinics of North America
|August 7, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Inhaled antibiotics offer a promising adjunctive therapy for critically ill patients with multidrug-resistant organisms, delivering high lung drug concentrations to combat infections like ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Area of Science:

  • Critical Care Medicine
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pulmonology

Background:

  • Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) pose a significant threat to critically ill patients.
  • The emergence of extensively drug-resistant bacteria necessitates novel therapeutic strategies.
  • Intravenous antibiotics may not achieve sufficient lung concentrations without systemic toxicity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current evidence on inhaled antibiotics for treating bacterial ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT).
  • To evaluate the efficacy of inhaled antibiotics as adjunctive therapy in intensive care settings.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies investigating inhaled antibiotic use in VAP and VAT.
  • Analysis of preliminary data on aerosolized antimicrobial efficacy against resistant pathogens.

Main Results:

  • Inhaled antibiotics can achieve high drug concentrations directly in the lung.
  • Preliminary data suggest effectiveness against pathogens with high minimum inhibitory concentrations.
  • This approach may overcome limitations of systemic antibiotic delivery.

Conclusions:

  • Inhaled antibiotics represent a viable adjunctive treatment for VAP and VAT caused by MDROs.
  • Further research is warranted to establish optimal protocols and confirm efficacy.
  • This strategy offers a potential solution to the challenge of antibiotic resistance in critical care.
Keywords:
Inhaled antibioticsMultidrug-resistant bacteriaVentilator-associated pneumoniaVentilator-associated tracheobronchitis

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