Microbiology, resistance patterns, and risk factors of mortality in ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia in a Northern Thai tertiary-care university based general surgical intensive care unit Kaweesak Chittawatanarat, Wuttipong Jaipakdee, Narain Chotirosniramit, Kamtone Chandacham, Tidarat JirapongcharoenlapDivision of Surgical Critical Care and Trauma, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, ThailandBackground: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) occurrence, causative pathogens, and resistance patterns in surgical intensive care units (SICU) are different between Western and developing Asian countries. In Thailand, resistant organisms have progressively increased in the last decade. However, the evidence describing causes of VAP and its outcomes, especially secondary to resistant pathogens, in Asian developing countries’ SICUs is very limited. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe the incidence, pathogen characteristics, and risk factors that impact mortality and patient survival following VAP in a tertiary Northern Thai SICU.Methods: Between 2008 and 2012, VAP occurred in a total of 150 patients in Chiang Mai University’s general SICUs (6.3±2.8 cases per 1,000 mechanical ventilator days). The following clinical data were collected from 46 patients who died and 104 patients who survived: microbiologic results, susceptible patterns, and survival status at hospital discharge. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were classified as susceptible, multidrug resistant (MDR), extensively drug resistant (XDR), and pan-drug resistant (PDR). The hazard ratio (HR) was calculated for risk factor analysis.Results: Regarding the microbiology, gram negative organisms were the major pathogens