Selective decontamination in the ICU: benefit of the doubt

Since its introduction in 1984, selective decontamination of the digestive tract has had clear supporters and opponents. De Smet et al. conducted a large national study in 13 Dutch intensive care units, investigating the effects of the following 3 regimens on mortality: standard treatment, selective...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde Vol. 153; p. A488
Main Authors Bergmans, Dennis C J J, Zwaveling, Jan Harm
Format Journal Article
LanguageDutch
Published Netherlands 2009
Subjects
Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use
Bacteremia - epidemiology
Bacteremia - mortality
Bacteremia - prevention & control
Cross Infection - epidemiology
Cross Infection - mortality
Cross Infection - prevention & control
Decontamination - methods
Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Oropharynx - microbiology
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Summary:Since its introduction in 1984, selective decontamination of the digestive tract has had clear supporters and opponents. De Smet et al. conducted a large national study in 13 Dutch intensive care units, investigating the effects of the following 3 regimens on mortality: standard treatment, selective decontamination of the digestive tract and selective oropharyngeal decontamination. The results showed decontamination to have a clear benefit in terms of reducing mortality. Based on these results, decontamination should be used in all intensive care patients.
ISSN:0028-2162
1876-8784