Reducing the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Use of an antiseptic paste may help those suffering from potentially deadly pneumonia.
Pneumonia associated with ventilator use is a common hospital infection. It affects 27 per cent of all critically-ill ventilated patients. And the mortality for those affected is between 20 and 60 per cent. So it is a serious issue.

Researchers at the University Medical Center, Utrecht, in The Netherlands, have tried using the antiseptic chlorhexidine as an oral decontaminant. They applied this to a group of 127 patients. Another group received chlorhexidine plus colistin, an antibiotic, and a third group received placebo.

The rate of infection among the chlorhexidine group alone was ten per cent, in the combination group 13 per cent and in the placebo group 18 per cent. However, the various treatments did not alter the time the patients spent on the ventilator nor the time they needed to spend in the intensive care unit. The use of chlorhexidine paste is promising but could be made even better – that is, it ought to reduce the time spent in intensive care. So further studies are needed to assess its application.

Source
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine June 2006