Oral Care in Intubated Patients Whether or not on Mechanical Ventilation: A Systemic Review

Abstract

Oral care is an important part of nursing management in intubated patients as it affects both wellness and clinical outcomes of intensive care patients. Many of the intubated patients develop nosocomial pneumonia (ventilator-associated-pneumonia when on mechanical ventilation) owing to invasion by oropharyngeal microorganisms in intensive care patients. So intensive care intubated patients need proper oral assessment and oral care to avoid complications caused by oropharyngeal bacteria. We aimed to determine the standard practice guidelines over oral hygiene intubated patients in intensive care unit. For the purpose of collection of data we searched extensively on internet databases including Pub Med, Med know, Google scholar and EBSCO HOST. The keywords used were oral care, oral hygiene practice, mouth care, mouth hygiene, intubated, mechanical ventilation, intensive care and critical care. We analysed the studies performed on adult intensive care intubated patients, published in peer reviewed. Type of studies analysed were descriptive evaluation studies, randomised controlled trials, literature review and meta-analysis and randomised clinical trials. After the analysis of all study article we concluded that oral brushing with chlorhexidine solution in various strength (0.12%, 0.2%, 2%) at least twice a day can reduce the incidence of VAP in intensive care intubated patients.