Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Dec 2017
ReviewImpact of Oral Chlorhexidine on Bloodstream Infection in Critically Ill Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Oropharyngeal overgrowth of microorganisms in the critically ill is a risk factor for lower respiratory tract infection and subsequent invasion of the bloodstream. Oral chlorhexidine has been used to prevent pneumonia, but its effect on bloodstream infection never has been assessed in meta-analyses. The authors explored the effect of oral chlorhexidine on the incidence of bloodstream infection, the causative microorganism, and on all-cause mortality in critically ill patients. ⋯ In critically ill patients, oropharyngeal chlorhexidine did not reduce bloodstream infection and mortality significantly and did not affect any microorganism involved. The presence of a high risk of bias in 1 study and unclear risk of bias in others may have affected the robustness of these findings.