What Are the Risks of Being on a Ventilator?Infections
One of the most serious and common risks of being on a ventilator is pneumonia. The breathing tube that's put in your airway can allow bacteria to enter your lungs. As a result, you may develop ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
The breathing tube also makes it hard for you to cough. Coughing helps clear your airways of lung irritants that can cause infections.
VAP is a major concern for people using ventilators because they're often already very sick. Pneumonia may make it harder to treat their other disease or condition.
VAP is treated with antibiotics. You may need special antibiotics if the VAP is caused by bacteria that are resistant to standard treatment.
Another risk of being on a ventilator is a sinus infection. This type of infection is more common in people who have endotracheal tubes. (An endotracheal tube is put into your windpipe through your mouth or nose.) Sinus infections are treated with antibiotics.
People die in hospitals often for reasons not related to the reason they were admitted.
Infection by hospital bugs is often very hard to treat as the bugs have developed resistance to normal antibiotics at normal doses.
If you need surgery have it done in the outpatient surgery area. Hopefully, that area is new and away from the older parts of the hospital.