Sanosil, a more effective agent for preventing the hospital‐acquired ventilator associated pneumonia

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to compare the effects of Sanosil and glutaraldehyde 2 percent in disinfecting ventilator connecting tubes in an intensive care unit (ICU) environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The 12‐week open‐labelled clinical trial was conducted in the surgical ICU of a teaching hospital from March to May 2005. In the first phase of the study, high level disinfection was performed using glutaraldehyde 2 percent, whereas Sanosil was used as the disinfectant agent of the second phase. Samples for microbial culture were obtained from the Y piece, the expiratory limb proximal to the ventilator and the humidifier in different stages; the results were then compared.

Findings

Positive culture was more frequently reported in Y pieces, humidifiers and expiratory end of ventilators. Comparing the two groups, there were more positive cultures in the glutaraldehyde group (p value=0.005); multiple organism growths, gram negative, gram positive and fungi were also more frequent in this group (p value=0.01; 0. 007; 0. 062; 0.144, respectively).

Originality/value

The paper shows that Sanosil is an effective agent in reducing the contamination risk in the tubes used in ICUs.

Citation

Yousefshahi, F., Reza Khajavi, M., Anbarafshan, M., Khashayar, P. and Najafi, A. (2010), "Sanosil, a more effective agent for preventing the hospital‐acquired ventilator associated pneumonia", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 583-590. https://doi.org/10.1108/09526861011060942