Effects of different oral care strategies on postoperative pneumonia in infants with mechanical ventilation after cardiac surgery: a prospective randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND: To explore the effects of different oral care strategies on postoperative pneumonia in infants with mechanical ventilation after cardiac surgery. METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted at a hospital in Fujian Province, China. Participants were randomly divided into the breast milk oral care group, physiological saline oral care group, and sodium bicarbonate oral care group to explore the effects of different oral care strategies on postoperative pneumonia in infants on mechanical ventilation cardiac surgery. RESULTS: The mechanical ventilation duration, the hospitalization costs, and the length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay and postoperative hospital stay in the breast milk oral care group were significantly shorter than those in the physiological saline oral care group and the sodium bicarbonate oral care group. The incidence of postoperative pneumonia in the breast milk oral care group was 3.2%, which was significantly lower than that in the physiological saline oral care group (22.6%) and the sodium bicarbonate oral care group (19.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Using breast milk for oral care in infants after cardiac surgery has a lower incidence of postoperative pneumonia than traditional oral care strategies of physiological saline and sodium bicarbonate, and it is worthy of clinical application.