(Washington University School of Medicine) People have long prized silver as a precious metal. Now, silver-coated endotracheal tubes are giving critically ill patients another reason to value the lustrous metal.

In a study published in the Aug. 20, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis and the NASCENT Investigation Group, report that the silver-coated tubes led to a 36 percent reduction of ventilator-associated pneumonia.