NHS Evidence expert commentary: Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia with oral antiseptics

Source: NHS Evidence Area: News The February edition of 'Eyes on Evidence', the free monthly e-bulletin from NHS Evidence covering major new published evidence as it emerges with an explanation about what it means for current practice, includes an expert commentary on new data from a systematic review and random effects meta-analysis assessing the effect of oral care with chlorhexidine or povidone-iodine on the prevalence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) compared with oral care without these antiseptics in adults.   Overall, antiseptic use resulted in a significant risk reduction of VAP (relative risk [RR] 0.67, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.88; p=0.004). Subgroup analysis based on type of antiseptic showed a significant reduction in cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the chlorhexidine studies (a 28% risk reduction compared with oral care without these antiseptics, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.94). Although povidone-iodine had a relative risk reduction of 61% (RR 0.39, 95% CI 0.11 to 1.36), this was not ...
Source: NeLM - News - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news