The Effect of Clorhexidine Mouth Wash before General Anesthesia on Postoperative Surgery Respiratory Infection

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of oral disinfectant washes before intubation on the incidence of respiratory infections.
In this cross-sectional study which was carried out on patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, 100 patients were enrolled on a voluntary basis. They were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group was given 3ml of 0/2 % chlorhexidine mouth wash for 1 minute in 3 times 30 minutes before intubation. The control group received no intervention. Standard hospital care was provided for both groups equally. The demographic questionnaire was also completed in all patients and they were followed up at 10, 30, and 60 days. Measure of respiratory infections included fever, cough, chest pain, headache, if necessary bacterial culture of sputum and antibiotic consumption. The results were analyzed by SPSS Version 19.
The mean age of patients in the control group was 49.3±17.54 years and in the interventional group was 47.3±18.7 years (P≤ 0.506). The duration of anesthesia in the control group was 2.66±1.46 hours while in the experimental group was 2.31±0.89 hours (P≤0.392). The length of stay in the recovery room for the control group was 38.7±11.23 minutes and for the interventional groups was 34.8± 9.14 minutes. Although smoking was 8% in the control group and in the interventional group was 26%, however, the incidence of fever with respiratory infection in the control group was 20% and in the interventional group, was 4% after surgery (P≤0.014).
Based on these results, mouth disinfectant before anesthesia is associated with a significant reduction in fever and symptoms of respiratory infection. Therefore, it is recommended to disinfect the patient's mouth 30 minutes before general anesthesia when endotracheal intubation is performed on a routine basis.