Chest
Clinical Investigations in Critical CareA Randomized Clinical Trial of Intermittent Subglottic Secretion Drainage in Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation
Section snippets
Study Protocol
The study was performed in a 12-bed general ICU at the Bosch Medical Center, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the medical ethical committee of the hospital. Between May 1999 and June 2000, we studied 150 patients admitted to our ICU and expected to receive mechanical ventilation for > 72 h. Randomization was performed by drawing a card from a sealed envelope. The study group received an oral endotracheal tube with the possibility of intermittent
Total Study Population
Over a period of 13 months, 150 patients were enrolled in the study. The demographic data of the total study population are shown in Table 1. The two groups were similar in age, demographic characteristics, severity of illness on hospital admission, and underlying diseases. Fifteen patients (10%) had VAP develop, yielding a rate of 15.6 episodes of VAP per 1,000 ventilator-days. Three patients (4%) in the study group and 12 patients (16%) in the control group had VAP develop (RR, 0.22; 95% CI,
Discussion
In this randomized trial, 150 patients with an expected duration of mechanical ventilation > 72 h were randomized to intermittent subglottic secretion drainage or to a control group. VAP developed in 15 patients (10%), which translates to an incidence rate of 15.6 episodes per 1,000 ventilator-days. Patients randomized to intermittent subglottic secretion drainage had a statistically lower incidence of VAP than patients intubated with the conventional endotracheal tube. Three patients had VAP
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank the nursing staff of the ICU, the anesthesiologists, and the staff of the Department of Medical Microbiology of Bosch Medicentrum for their assistance.
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