Alessandro De Cassai, Tommaso Pettenuzzo, Veronica Busetto, Christian Legnaro, Chiara Pretto, Alessio Rotondi, Annalisa Boscolo, Nicolò Sella, Marina Munari, Paolo Navalesi
INTRODUCTION: Oral chlorhexidine has been widely used for ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention in the critical care setting; however, previous studies and evidence synthesis have generated inconsistent findings. Our study aims to investigate if different concentrations of oral chlorhexidine may be effective in preventing such complication in intensive care unit patients. METHODS: After pre-registration (Open Science Framework: 8CUKF), we conducted a network meta-analysis with the following PICOS: adult patients (age > 18 years old) undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation admitted in ICU (P); any concentration of chlorhexidine used for oral hygiene (I); placebo, sham intervention, usual care, or no intervention (C); rate of VAP (primary outcome), mechanical ventilation length, ICU length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, mortality (secondary outcomes) (O); randomized controlled trials (S)...
May 3, 2024: J Anesth Analg Crit Care