QUESTION Does the instillation of normal saline before suctioning reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in intubated and ventilated adults? DESIGN Randomised, controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment. SETTING The medical/surgical intensive care unit of a tertiary oncology hospital in Brazil. PARTICIPANTS Adults expected to require at least 72 hours of mechanical ...

BACKGROUND Standard indications for endotracheal suctioning are often based on clinical judgment on the deterioration of the patient's condition, and/or routine suctioning. TBA Care is a secretion detector that analyses airway sounds and indicates the need for suctioning. OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of TBA Care in detecting retained secretions, compared to standard indications. METH...

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and severity of arterial oxygen desaturation during and after endotracheal suctioning in a group of ventilator-dependent patients with acute respiratory failure (the majority of whom had underlying obstructive lung disease) and to evaluate the efficacy of several maneuvers designed to minimize desaturation. The adaptor method presented ob...

OBJECTIVE The Dutch Working Party on Infection Prevention (Werkgroep Infectiepreventie [WIP]) aimed to determine whether certain policies on endotracheal suctioning are better than others in terms of prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit. METHODS Publications were retrieved by a systematic search of Medline ...

OBJECTIVE This study is to test the effectiveness of fiber-optic-guided endotracheal suction catheter (visual sputum suctioning system or VSSS) in dog models. METHODS Dog sputum models were established by administering dimethoate emulsifiable. Twenty-seven intubated dogs were equally randomized into three groups of conventional suctioning (CS) group, VSSS with no supplemental oxygen (VSSS) gr...

BACKGROUND Expiratory rib-cage compression, a chest physiotherapy technique, is well known as the "squeezing" technique in Japan. OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of rib-cage compression on airway-secretion removal, oxygenation, and ventilation in patients receiving mechanical ventilation. SETTING An intensive care unit of an emergency and critical care center at a tertiary-care teaching ...

BACKGROUND In patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, mucus production and secretion is high as a result of the endotracheal tube. Because endotracheal suction in these patients is essential, chest physiotherapy techniques such as expiratory rib cage compression before endotracheal suctioning can be used as a means to facilitate mobilizing and removing airway secretion and improving alveola...