Clinical study on contamination and replacement frequency of open suction tubing in intensive care unit

Abstract

Objective To investigate the bacterial contamination of open suction tubing in intensive care units at different dwelling time and to explore the proper replacement frequency of suction tubing. Methods The patients receiving tracheal intubation or tracheotomy in the Intensive Care Unit, Jinhua Municipal Central Hospital from November 2016 to February 2018 were selected by convenient sampling. Based on preliminary pilot experiment, totally 39 patients were selected. Samples from the internal opening of suction tubing connector at days 1, 3 and 7 were obtained for bacterial culture, and the patients' sputum was cultured as required. The type of contaminant bacteria at the internal opening of suction tubing connector was identified. The number of bacterial colony, number of bacterial genus and the consistency with patients' sputum culture at different time points were compared. Results The bacteria at the internal opening of suction tubing connector were mainly pseudomonas aeruginosa, viridans streptococcus, baumanii and corynebacterium, which was slightly different from the findings of sputum culture. There was no statistically significant difference in the positive rate, number of bacterial colony, number of bacterial genus and the consistency with patients' sputum culture at the internal opening suction tubing connector at days 1, 3 and 7 (P>0.05) . Conclusions The internal opening of open suction tubing is highly contaminated, but the bacterial contamination does not worsen over time. The suction tubing may be replaced as long as every 7 days. Key words: Intensive care unit; Suction tubing; Contamination; Replacement frequency