Endotracheal tube tip cultures in ventilated newborns

ABSTRACT

In this study 144 cultures of endotracheal tube tips from 82 newborns ventilated for various reasons were done to determine the pattern of bacterial colonization in their respiratory tracts. In the first week of ventilation 70% of the cultures were sterile, with the remaining cultures growing mainly gram +ve organisms constituting part of the normal respiratory flora. The incidence of sterile cultures decreased with the duration of ventilation and gram -ve organisms predominated after the second week. Blood and urine cultures done failed to correlate with the E.T. tube culture results. It is concluded that the limited value of endotracheal tube tip cultures does not justify being a routine practice on ventilated babies in the neonatal intensive care nursery, especially if they are already under antibiotic cover