Clinical Observation on the Effect of Preoperative Mouth-rinsing on Postoperative Infection of Respiratory Tract After General Anesthesia

Objective To explore the preventive measures for preventing the infection of respiratory tract infection after general anesthesia.Methods Two hundred and forty patients who were to undergo general anesthesia in our hospital were randomized into 2 groups: control group and experimental group, with 120 subjects in each group. Patients in the experimental group were asked to rinse their mouth before and after each meal (three meals a day, 7 times each day). On the first day after the operations, the mouth was cleaned with gargle in nursing care. In the control group, patients did not rinse the mouth before the operation and on the first day after the operations, the mouth was cleaned with gargle in nursing care. Nasopharyngeal cultures were performed before each rising and on the first day of the operation. Results There was a significant difference in the incidence of respiratory tract infection between the two groups (all P0.05). The incidences and lasting time of cough and sputum-coughing in experimental group were significantly lower than those in control group (all P0.01).Conclusion Preoprative mouth-rinsing has bacteria inhibitory and bactericidal effects in the patients undergoing general anesthesia, thereby minimizing the opportunity of respiratory tract infection.