Comparing the Effect of Using Normal Saline and Distilled Water for Tracheal Suctioning on the Incidence of Ventilator-associated Pneumonia and Hemodynamic Indexes in Ventilator-dependent Patients

VAP prevention is a top priority in the intensive care units. The study was conducted to compare the effect of using normal saline and distilled water for tracheal suctioning on the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia and hemodynamic indexes in ventilator-dependent patients.

The present study is a randomized clinical trial that was conducted from 2017 to 2018 on 60 ventilator-dependent patients in the ICUs of Jafar Sadeg Hospital affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences. Patients were allocated to the two intervention and control groups by block random allocation method. The hemodynamic parameters of patients (respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, and SPO2) were recorded in a form 5 minutes before and after the suctioning in each Shift. Finally, the incidence of VAP and changes in hemodynamic indexes in the two groups were compared.

The two groups did not differ from each other significantly (P = 0.79) in terms of tracheal culture and incidence of VAP. The results showed that intra-group hemodynamic indexes (heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and SPO2) did not differ significantly before and after the suctioning in normal saline and distilled water groups. The inter-group test showed that, the two groups only had a significant difference in the level of arterial oxygen saturation after the intervention (p = 0.006).

As the level of SPO2 was higher in the normal saline group, it is better to use normal saline as a diluent for pulmonary secretions before tracheal suctioning.