Oral Care Bundle versus Chlorhexidine in the Prevention of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia

Background: VAP is a nosocomial infection that occurs at least 48 hours after intubation in mechanically ventilated pa-tients, with an incidence of 15%-60%. Aim of Study: To compare the outcomes of a new oral care bundle versus the classic chlorhexidine as a control in terms of VAP prevention. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective randomized open-label controlled trial conducted on 100 patients at Ain Shams University General Surgery ICU from December 2022 to June 2023. Patients were divided into two groups. Results: There was statistically significant lower OHAT score and lower MV duration, lower CPIS score and lower in-cidence of VAP in oral care bundle than chlorhexidine group (p<0.05). While there was no statistically significant difference between oral care bundle and chlorhexidine group as regard the APACHE II score (p>0.05). Conclusion: The implementation of new oral care bundle resulted in significant reduction in the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia. Also we founded that the new oral care bundle was associated with significant reduction in mechanical ventilation duration and improvement in oral health compared to the classic oral care with chlorhexidine among mechanically ventilated critically ill patients.