Efficacy of oral rinses in preventing pulmonary infection of patients undergoing esophageal surgery

Objective To investigate the efficacy of different oral rinses in preventing pulmonary infection of patients undergoing esophageal surgery.Methods Ninety patients undergoing esophageal surgery were randomly divided into three groups with 30 cases each.The patients in group A rinsed orally with a rinse of 0.05% povidone-iodine in the moning of operation,those in group B with a rinse of 0.02% nitrofurazone,and those with a rinse of normal saline.Oral rinse was performed 5 times a day for 7 days before operation.The bacteria cultures of the throat swab on the morning of surgery(T1),sputum taken at 2 h during intubation(T2),and endotracheal tube adhesion properties after extubation(T3) were carried out.The incidence of pulmonary infection was recorded after operation.Results The positive rates of bacteria culture at T1,T2,T3 were 30.0%,26.7%,20.0% in group A,which were 63.3%,50.0%,56.7% in group B.The incidence rates of pulmonary infection were 20.0%,40.0%,56.7% in groups of A,B,C,respectively.The difference among three groups was significant(P0.01).Conclusion Preoperative oral care with 0.05% povidone-iodine can effectively prevent lung infection in the patients undergoing esophageal surgery.