Oral care is an important part of nursing management in intubated patients as it affects both wellness and clinical outcomes of intensive care patients. Many of the intubated patients develop nosocomial pneumonia (ventilator associated pneumonia/VAP when on mechanical ventilation) owing to invasion by oropharyngeal microorganisms in intensive care patients. So İntensive care intubated patients need proper oral assessment and oral care to avoid complications caused by oro-pharyngeal bacteria. In this systemic review we aimed to determine the standard practice guidelines over oral hygiene intubated patients in intensive care unit. For the purpose of collection of data we searched extensively on internet databases including Pub Med, Med know, Google scholar and EBSCO HOST. The keywords used were oral care, oral hygiene practice, mouth care, mouth hygiene, intubated, mechanical ventilation, intensive care and critical care. We analyzed the studies which were performed on adult intensive care intubated patients, published in peer-reviewed indexed journals and preferably done by nursing officers.

Type of studies we analyzed in this systemic review were descriptive evaluation studies, randomised controlled trials, literature review and meta-analysis & randomized clinical trials. After the analysis of all study articles we concluded that oral brushing with chlorhexidine solution in various strength (0.12%, 0.2%, 2%) at least twice a day can reduce the incidence of VAP in intensive care intubated patients.

Keywords: İntensive care, oral care, Ventilator associated pneumonia, intubated patient.

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Mrs. Sanjukumari

Nursing Officer, College of Nursing, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Phulwarisharif, Patna- 801507 Bihar, India

Ph:- 8521941428, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.