• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.25-35
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of oral care using 0.1% chlorhexidine and tantum solution on oral status and incidence of oral pathogens among intubated ICU patients. Methods: The study subjects were 26 intubated patients of MICU in a university hospital. Oral care was provided with 0.1% chlorhexidine solution to the experimental group (n=12) and with tantum solution to the control group (n=14), 3 times a day for 6 days. After the intervention, the oral status of each subject was checked using structured method, and oral swab culture was done to count colonized bacterial pathogens. Results: The mean oral status score of experimental group was significantly higher than that of control group (U=42.50, p=.031). The mean incidence of oral pathogens in experimental group was smaller than that of control group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The oral care with 0.1% chlorhexidine solution is more effective than with tantum solution for improving oral status of intubated ICU patients. However, additional studies with larger sample size will be needed to figure out it's effects on the incidence of oral pathogens.