RESUMO
Objective To evaluate the effect of chlorhexidine gargle on respiratory tract infection (RTI)in patients following general anesthesia.Methods From January 2012 to June 2013,94 patients who received general anesthe-sia for removal of vertebral disc were randomly divided into two groups,with 47 cases in each group,control group gargled with normal saline,observation group accepted 2% chlorhexidine gargle.The occurrence of RTI and detec-tion of pharynx pathogens of two groups were compared.Results The incidence of RTI in observation group and control group was 8.51%(n=4)and 23.40%(n=11)respectively(χ2 = 12.95,P <0.05).4 patients in observation group were detected 4 isolates of pathogens,11 patients in control group were detected 26 isolates of pathogens,the detection rate of pharynx pathogens of observation group was lower than control group (χ2 =3.89,P <0.05).The main isolated pathogens were Pseudomonas aeruginosa ,Staphylococcus aureus ,Klebsiella pneumoniae and Esche-richia coli .Conclusion Chlorhexidine gargling can effectively reduce RTI following general anesthesia,it is worthy of clinical application.