Consensus based clinical guideline for oral hygiene in the critically ill.

OBJECTIVES: Oropharyngeal colonisation has been identified as a factor contributing to ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We sought to develop a clinical practice guideline for providing oral hygiene in the critically ill. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Following a systematic literature review a prospectively derived consensus development conference was convened and sponsored by a clinical governance unit. RESULTS: The consensus development conference generated 12 recommendations for tools and solutions; frequency and duration of cleaning; oral assessment tools and oral hygiene protocols. These recommendations underwent a validation process. CONCLUSIONS: In light of sparse high level evidence to inform guidelines, further research is needed inform clinical practice. Oral hygiene is a critical element of nursing care and a standardised approach has the potential to improve clinical outcomes.

Systematic literature review of oral hygiene practices for intensive care patients receiving mechanical ventilation.

BACKGROUND: Oropharyngeal colonization with pathogenic organisms contributes to the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia in intensive care units. Although considered basic and potentially nonessential nursing care, oral hygiene has been proposed as a key intervention for reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia. Nevertheless, evidence from randomized controlled trials that could inform best practice is limited. OBJECTIVE: To appraise the peer-reviewed literature to determine the best available evidence for providing oral care to intensive care patients receiving mechanical ventilation and to document a research agenda for this important activity in optimizing patients' outcomes. METHODS: Articles published from 1985 to 2006 in English and indexed in the CINAHL, MEDLINE, Joanna Briggs Institute, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and DARE databases were searched by using the key terms oral hygiene, oral hygiene practices, oral care, mouth care, mouth hygiene, intubated, mechanically ventilated, intensive care, and critical care. Reference lists of retrieved journal articles were searched for publications missed during the primary search. Finally, the Google search engine was used to do a comprehensive search of the World Wide Web to ensure completeness of the search. The search strategy was verified by a health librarian. RESULTS: The search yielded 55 articles: 11 prospective controlled trials, 20 observational studies, and 24 descriptive reports. Methodological issues and the heterogeneity of samples precluded meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the importance of providing oral hygiene to intensive care patients receiving mechanical ventilation, high-level evidence from rigorous randomized controlled trials or high-quality systematic reviews that could inform clinical practice is scarce.

Beyond comfort: oral hygiene as a critical nursing activity in the intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: The role of oral hygiene in maintaining the health and well being of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is indisputable. This importance is not reflected in the body of research related to ICU practice. While a number of studies have examined oral hygiene practices in oncological patients there is significantly less attention devoted to these practices in the critically ill. AIM: This paper has two discrete yet interrelated aims. Firstly, in relation to current available evidence and based on a sound knowledge of oral physiology, identify barriers to effective oral hygiene and subsequent effectiveness of the most commonly used and recommended methods of providing oral hygiene in the critically ill population. Secondly, informed by the critical review, identify recommendations for practice and future intervention studies. FINDINGS: To date, there is no definitive evidence to determine the most appropriate method of oral hygiene including the use of beneficial mouth rinses. Barriers identified in this review to providing optimal hygiene include: (1) mechanical barriers and equipment issues, (2) perceptions of the importance of mouth care and empathy with patient discomfort by nurses, (3) altered patient sensory perception and discomfort and (4) difficulties in patient communication. In spite of these challenges opportunities for collaborative research and increasing expertise in nurse researchers creates a climate to derive solutions to these factors. CONCLUSIONS: It is clearly evident from this review of oral hygiene practices in intensive care that the need for ongoing research is of paramount importance. ICU nurses undeniably require rigorous research studies in order to inform their practice in the provision of oral hygiene for critically ill patients.