The importance of oral hygiene in patients submitted to mechanical ventilation in ICU: systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Objective: To analyze published articles that answer by means of research of literature the clinical question and to identify in the literature the complications of a compromised oral hygiene and the interventions of the nursing team in front of the diagnosis of impaired oral mucosa.
Methods: This is a descriptive research with a qualitative approach and the type of study used was bibliographical from existing material available on the internet in the following databases: Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), Scielo, LILACS e BDENF.
Results: The results reveal 10 publications identified and analyzed by the thematic analysis technique, in which three categories of analysis emerged: Consequences of impaired oral hygiene; Relation between oral hygiene and mechanical ventilation associated pneumonia in Intensive Care and role of the nurse in the implementation of oral hygiene.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that oral hygiene is a primordial procedure in patients submitted to mechanical ventilation inside the ICU, the technique has great significance in promoting comfort for the patient and prevention of pneumonia associated with ventilation. It is significant that this study demonstrates that lack of knowledge of the team, lack of implementation and disregard for the procedure can lead to potential adverse events such as prolonging the patient's stay in the ICU, so it is important to provide continuing education in the unit of therapy Intensive, implement protocols for performing oral hygiene according to the needs of the patient, in order to mitigate the risks to the patient.
Keywords: Oral hygiene, nursing care, intensive care and pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation.