Preintubation application of oral chlorhexidine does not provide additional benefit in prevention of early-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Daily application of oral chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) following intubation to reduce the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is now the standard of care in many ICUs. This randomized clinical trial evaluated the benefit of adding a preintubation CHX dose to the known benefit of postintubation CHX to reduce the risk of early-onset VAP. A secondary aim was to test the effect of a preintubation oral application of CHX on early endotracheal tube (ETT) colonization.

Methods

Subjects (N = 314) were recruited from two teaching hospitals and were randomly assigned to oral application of 5 mL CHX 0.12% solution before intubation (intervention group, n = 157), or to a control group (n = 157) who received no CHX before intubation. All subjects received CHX bid af

SUBMITTER: Munro CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4314813 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature