Acute and Critical Care

Lakshmi Ramamoorthy

2 Articles

Nursing
Effect of fourth hourly oropharyngeal suctioning on ventilator-associated events in patients requiring mechanical ventilation in intensive care units of a tertiary care center in South India: a randomized controlled trial: Khanjana Borah, Lakshmi Ramamoorthy, Muthapillai Senthilnathan, Rajeswari Murugesan, Hmar Thiak Lalthanthuami, Rani Subramaniyan; Acute Crit Care. 2023;38(4):460-468. Published online November 24, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4266/acc.2022.01501

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Abstract PDF: Background
Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a necessary life-saving measure for critically ill patients. Ventilator-associated events (VAEs) are potentially avoidable complications associated with MV that can double the rate of death. Oral care and oropharyngeal suctioning, although neglected procedures, play a vital role in the prevention of VAE.
Methods
A randomized controlled trial was conducted in the intensive care units to compare the effect of fourth hourly oropharyngeal suctioning with the standard oral care protocol on VAE among patients on MV. One hundred twenty mechanically ventilated patients who were freshly intubated and expected to be on ventilator support for the next 72 hours were randomly allocated to the control or intervention groups. The intervention was fourth hourly oropharyngeal suctioning along with the standard oral care procedure. The control group received standard oral care (i.e., thrice a day) and on-demand oral suctioning. On the 3rd and 7th days following the intervention, endotracheal aspirates were sent to rule out ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Results
Both groups were homogenous at baseline with respect to their clinical characteristics. The intervention group had fewer VAEs (56.7%) than the control group (78.3%) which was significant at P<0.01. A significant reduction in the status of “positive culture” on ET aspirate also been observed following the 3rd day of the intervention (P<0.001).
Conclusions
One of the most basic preventive strategies is providing oral care. Oropharyngeal suctioning is also an important component of oral care that prevents microaspiration. Hence, fourth-hourly oropharyngeal suctioning with standard oral care significantly reduces the incidence of VAE.

Pulmonary
Under or overpressure: an audit of endotracheal cuff pressure monitoring at the tertiary care center: Biju Viswambharan, Manjini Jeyaram Kumari, Gopala Krishnan, Lakshmi Ramamoorthy; Acute Crit Care. 2021;36(4):374-379. Published online November 26, 2021; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4266/acc.2021.00024

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2 Web of Science
3 Crossref

Background
Mechanical ventilation is a lifesaving intervention for critically ill patients but can produce the major complication of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Inappropriately inflated endotracheal tubes cause potential harm due to high or low pressure; this can be prevented through monitoring protocols.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of 348 cuff pressure readings was performed with intubated and mechanically ventilated patients to evaluate the exact proportion of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) where the cuff pressure is optimal and to identify the ICUs where device-based monitoring is available to produce a lower proportion of sub-optimal cuff pressure cases. Every three days, cuff pressure was assessed with a handheld cuff pressure manometer. The corresponding VAP rates of those ICUs were obtained from the hospital infection control department.
Results
Cuff pressure of 40.2% was the lower cutoff for the high category, that of optimal was 35.3%, and the highest cutoff of sub-optimal was 24.4%. This study also showed ICUs that had cuff pressure monitoring devices and protocols. Active measurement protocols had a higher proportion of optimal cuff pressure (58.5%) and a lower proportion of sub-optimal and high cuff pressure (19.5% and 22.0%) compared to ICUs with no device-based monitoring protocols. Furthermore, the VAP rate of ICUs exhibited a weak positive correlation with sub-optimal cuff pressure.
Conclusions
Device-based cuff pressure monitoring is essential in maintaining adequate cuff pressure but often is inadequate, resulting in high readings. Therefore, this study suggests that device-based cuff pressure monitoring be practiced.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Pressure changes in the endotracheal tube cuff in otorhinolaryngologic surgery: a prospective observational study
Sujung Park, Young In Kwon, Hyun Joo Kim
Frontiers in Medicine.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
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Wedley Peñaloza, Reyes Cruz Manuel Reyes, Evelin Núñez Wong
Revista Gaceta Médica JBG.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Efficacy of using an intravenous catheter to repair damaged expansion lines of endotracheal tubes and laryngeal masks
Tingting Wang, Jiang Wang, Yao Lu, Xuesheng Liu, Shangui Chen
BMC Anesthesiology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef

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