Review: subglottic secretion drainage reduces ventilator associated pneumonia
Q Does subglottic secretion drainage (SSD) prevent ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients?
METHODS
Data sources:
Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Cochrane Library, Current Contents, and Biological Abstracts (1966 to May 2003); reference lists of retrieved studies and reviews; and authors of identified studies.
Study selection and assessment:
randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared SSD with no SSD in mechanically ventilated patients and reported pneumonia as an outcome. Methodological quality of individual studies was assessed based on allocation concealment and blinding.
Outcomes:
VAP. Secondary outcomes were mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, ventilation duration, and time from intubation to diagnosis of pneumonia.
MAIN RESULTS
5 RCTs (n = 896) met the selection criteria. SSD involved intermittent wall suction in 2 RCTs, continuous wall suction in 2 RCTs, and hourly syringe suction in 1 RCT. In 4 RCTs, …
