Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21249529›Full record

Trial reportNeurocritical care2011

Electric versus manual tooth brushing among neuroscience ICU patients: is it safe?

Virginia Prendergast, Peter Hagell, Ingalill Rahm Hallberg

Open access · bronzeAbstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neurocritical care, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Virginia PrendergastBarrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, 350 West Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA. neuropub@chw.edu
Peter Hagell
Ingalill Rahm Hallberg
Lund University · SEBarrow Neurological Institute · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPoor oral hygiene has been associated with ventilator-acquired pneumonia. Yet providing oral care for intubated patients is problematic. Furthermore, concerns that oral care could raise intracranial pressure (ICP) may cause nurses to use foam swabs to provide oral hygiene rather than tooth brushing as recommended by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Evidence is needed to support the safety of toothbrushing during oral care. We therefore evaluated ICP and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) during oral care with a manual or electric toothbrush in intubated patients in a neuroscience intensive care unit (ICU).

methodsAs part of a larger 2-year, prospective, randomized clinical trial, 47 adult neuroscience ICU patients with an ICP monitor received oral care with a manual or electric toothbrush. ICP and CPP were recorded before, during, and after oral care over the first 72 h of admission.

resultsGroups did not differ significantly in age, gender, or severity of injury. Of 807 ICP and CPP measurements obtained before, during, and after oral care, there were no significant differences in ICP (P = 0.72) or CPP (P = 0.68) between toothbrush methods. Analysis of pooled data from both groups revealed a significant difference across the three time points (Wilks' lambda, 12.56; P < 0.001; partial η(2), 0.36). ICP increased significantly (mean difference, 1.7 mm Hg) from before to during oral care (P = 0.001) and decreased significantly (mean difference, 2.1 mm Hg) from during to after oral care (P < 0.001).

conclusionsIn the absence of preexisting intracranial hypertension during oral care, tooth brushing, regardless of method, was safely performed in intubated neuroscience ICU patients.

Indexed as

ToothbrushingAdolescentAdultAgedBrain DiseasesCritical CareFemaleGlasgow Coma ScaleHumansIntracranial PressureMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesSpecialties, NursingYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID21249529
OpenAlexW1984298437

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.