Background: Standard practice of flushing saline over the patient's secretions following suctioning is similar to pouring water over grease, leading to motivating bacterial colonization and proliferation inside the suctioning circuit (i.e., catheter, tube, and collecting jar), which can then migrate to patient's lung during suctioning procedure causing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Therefore, flushing this circuit using an appropriate disinfectant to prevent bacterial colonization inside it and thus decreasing pneumonia occurrence has been our crucial investigation idea. Aim: To investigate the effect of suction system flushing with chlorhexidine (CHX) on the occurrence of VAP among mechanically ventilated patients (MVPs). Design: This study adopted a quasi-experimental research design, and a convenience sampling technique was used to recruit 136 patients to conduct this study. Setting: This study was conducted at surgical intensive care units of Mansoura University Emergency Hospital, Egypt. Results: The intervention group patients had a lower incidence of VAP (by 48.12%) compared with the control group. Moreover, the proposed technique was more effective in decreasing the incidence of late-VAP more than early-VAP. Furthermore, CHX reduced the cost of suction system flushing by 75%. Conclusion: Suction system flushing with CHX can significantly reduce the occurrence of VAP among MVPs and reduce the flushing cost. Therefore, this study recommends incorporating CHX into the daily care of MVPs.
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VAP Incidence
Timeframe: an average of 7 months