• A review on the role of mouthwash on oral and dental health and prevention of pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in ICU
  • Mohammad taha saadati rad,1 sakineh poorhossein fokolaei,2,* Mojgan tavana,3
    1. Student Research Committee, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran
    2. Department of nursing, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran
    3. Department of nursing, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran


  • Introduction: Ventilator-associated pneumonia is one of the most common nosocomial infections that lead to increased mortality, duration of hospitalization, and medical expenses in ICU wards. These patients are prone to dental plaque, for reasons such as tracheal tube, drug side effects, reduced fluids and lack of swallowing, and improper oral hygiene leads to complications such as pneumonia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mouthwash on prevention of pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in ICU.
  • Methods: This review study was conducted in 2018 by systematically searching for keywords such as oral health, mechanical ventilation, icu, and mouthwash in the Pub Med, Scopus, Pro quest, ISI databases that found 97 articles and 54 articles after using the Prisma checklist was selected.
  • Results: The results of the study showed that oral hygiene has a reduction of 60% in the incidence of ventilator induced pneumonia, and oral care has been able to reduce the incidence of pneumonia from 4.10 to 9.3 per thousand days of ventilator connection. However, most nurses about oral care in ICU patients observed training and lack of knowledge necessary in this field. Therefore, for this care, the priority was not high discrimination and did not perform or registered in many cases. . Pneumonia increases mortality (VAP) by up to 30%. Several strategies for prevention of pneumonia caused by (VAP), including: Zrrdh, with a angle of 30 to 45 degrees, oral hygiene is accurately subjected to the disinfectants, proper health of hands, prevention of fine-aspiration.
  • Conclusion: Developing a preventive strategy such as Tdark Checklist and specific protocol, enhancing continuing education programs in ICU nurses in the field of oral care. It is necessary to prevent pneumonia.
  • Keywords: oral health, mechanical ventilation, icu,mouthwash,pneumonia