Effectiveness of oral care solutions to prevent VAP in patients on mechanical ventilation: Systematic review and meta-analysis

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different oral care solutions on ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients under mechanical ventilation. To evaluate the effectiveness of oral care solutions in preventing VAP in patients under mechanical ventilation, randomized controlled studies were searched from databases such as PubMed, EBSCO, Embase, Web of Science, Clinical Trials and Turkey’s National electronic databases. Overall, a total of 10 randomized controlled experimental studies from 2028 scans were included in the analysis. The total sample size of the studies was 777 (intervention group: 417; control group: 360). In this meta-analysis, comprehensive oral care was effective in reducing the likelihood of VAP infection, but did not provide a clear conclusion as to which solution was more effective. Based on these results, stronger evidence is needed to reach to a conclusion about which of the oral care solutions are more effective in preventing VAP in patients on mechanical ventilation.