title: Effects of oral care with glutamine in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia in neurosurgical intensive care unit patients.
abstract: The study was designed as a randomized, controlled, experimental study aiming to determine the effects of oral care with glutamine in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients admitted to neurosurgical intensive care unit.
  
  
  
  The universe consisted of patients who are admitted to neurosurgical intensive care unit between January 2014 and August 2015, while the sample consisted of 88 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were randomly selected. The study group received oral care with 5% glutamine, whereas the control group received oral care with 2% chlorhexidine gluconate solution.
  
  
  
  All date was acquired using Patient Information Form, Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation scale (APACHE II), Beck Oral Assessment Scale (BOAS), Mucosal Plaque Score (MPS) and Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score (CPIS). One-way ANOVA test was used for comparing parameters with normal distribution between groups along with descriptive statistical methods. Kruskal-Wallis Test was used for comparing parameters without normal distribution between groups.
  
  
  
  In the control group, mean BOAS score was 9.33±1.8 mean MPS score was 3.68±0.87 and mean CPIS score was 4.07±1.78. In the study group, mean BOAS score was 10.16±2.78, mean MPS score was 3.93±1.04 and mean CPIS score was 3.78±2.25. There was no statistically significant difference in mean scores at 1st day, 3rd day, 5th day and discharge (p>0.05). However, BOAS, MPS, CPIS and APACHE II scores was significantly lower at discharge than 1st day in both groups.
  
  
  
  There was no significant difference in using 5% glutamine or 2% chlorhexidine gluconate solution for oral care for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Similar studies with bigger sample size and longer term should be conducted for better results.
authors.affiliation: Istanbul University, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, Abide-i Hürriyet Cad, 34381 Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: haticeka@istanbul.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: ybturan34@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Yüksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Turan
authors.affiliation: Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: ytunali@istanbul.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tunalı
authors.affiliation: Istanbul University, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, Abide-i Hürriyet Cad, 34381 Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: gulsunoz@istanbul.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Gülsün Özdemir
authors.initials: GÖ
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.affiliation: Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: neslihan.yuce@istanbul.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Neslihan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yüce
authors.affiliation: Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: sengul.ilgic@istanbul.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Şengül
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Gürbüz
authors.affiliation: Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: keztos@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Keziban
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tosun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005973:Glutamine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine
keywords: Chlorhexidine; Glutamine; Oral care; Oral hygiene; Ventilator-associated pneumonia