In a therapeutic approach, mouth hygiene with chlorhexidine is often the usual preventative measure for ICU patients. However, evaluating the benefit and demonstrating its statistical significance is essential for suggesting yet another patient-handling-requiring treatment strategy (Rabello et al., 2018). The inability to self-care, along with poor dental hygiene, medication usage, an impaired immune system, therapeutic dehydration, and hyposalivation, results in an imbalance of the resident microbiota and increases the likelihood of biofilm colonization by respiratory pathogens in the oral cavity (Rabello et al., 2018). The presence of pathogenic respiratory microorganisms in the oral biofilm of ICU patients gives credence to the theory that oropharyngeal cleaning with chlorhexidine may prevent the development of NP and VAP (Rabello et al., 2018). These widespread disorders in the ICU have a major influence on the mortality rate and reflect extra healthcare expenses due to longer hospitalization, a rise in the requirement for drugs, comorbidities, and an increase in the use of healthcare resources.
Several hospitals have embraced the use of chlorhexidine for oral hygiene to avoid nosocomial pneumonia. The scientific data is crucial to the acceptance of this treatment by critical care units. The outcomes of carious studies support the usage of chlorhexidine (Rabello et al., 2018). However, there is no unanimity about its usefulness in avoiding this pathology in all intensive care unit-admitted adult patients. There is solid evidence that oral chlorhexidine is useful in preventing nosocomial pneumonia in heart surgery patients. Its usefulness in preventing ventilation-associated pneumonia in people with diverse clinical circumstances is debatable. Chlorhexidine has shown efficacy in preventing NP among adult populations in the cardiothoracic ICU (Rabello et al., 2018). However, the characteristics of these individuals must be taken into account for preoperative infection control. In ICUs including patients with diverse clinical-surgical circumstances, the efficacy of chlorhexidine in preventing PN and VAP was unclear (Rabello et al., 2018). The clinical benefit associated with chlorhexidine should be determined. Future research is required to analyze ICU populations with various clinical-surgical situations.
Reference
Rabello, F., Araújo, V. E., & Magalhães, S. M. S. (2018). Effectiveness of oral chlorhexidine for the prevention of nosocomial pneumonia and ventilator‐associated pneumonia in intensive care units: Overview of systematic reviews. International Journal of Dental Hygiene, 16(4), 441-449.