This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an enhanced oral care bundle, incorporating 1% Chlorhexidine Gluconate, on the incidence of VAP and the associated costs of treatment and prevention. The study demonstrated a significant reduction
of around 50% in the incidence of VAP following the introduction of a practice change in oral care. The associated costs of preventing and treating VAP were also reduced by approximately 50%. Taken together these results suggest that oral care, incorporating 1% Chlorhexidine Gluconate, has an important role in the prevention of VAP. There are two significant limitations of this study. Firstly in the absence of a universally accepted definition and diagnostic criteria for VAP, it is not possible to compare the results of this study with others using different in VAP criteria. Secondly the design, which used historical controls rather than more rigorous
random sampling, may be inherently biased. Further
studies to evaluate the role of oral care, oral Chlorhexidine
Gluconate, as well as other measures are needed to establish
a sound evidence base for prevention strategies.