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Wednesday, 12 August 2009

A Randomized Trial of Dental Brushing for Prevening Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

A Randomized Trial of Dental Brushing for Preventing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia. Chest, vol. 136(2), Aug. 2009, p. 433-499.

Pobo, A., et al.

http://www.chestjournal.org/content/136/2/433.full.pdf+html

Poor oral hygiene is associated with respiratory pathogen colonization and secondary
lung infection. The impact of adding electric toothbrushing to oral care in order to reduce
ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) incidence is unknown. The study design was a prospective, simple-blind, randomized trial of adult patients intubated for > 48 h. Controlling for exposure to antibiotic treatment, patients were randomized to oral care every 8 h with 0.12% chlorhexidine digluconate (standard group) or standard oral care plus electric toothbrushing (toothbrush group). VAP was documented by quantitative respiratory cultures. Mechanical ventilation duration, hospital ICU length of stay, antibiotic use, and hospital ICU mortality were secondary end points.

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