Authors

Gloria E. Galindo Rivaflecha, Dámaris Acosta Rondón, Merlinda Ciria Acuña, Aurora Cabrera Zamora, Dayami Odelin 

Position

Licenciadas en Enfermería, Facultad de Enfermería de Santiago de Cuba.

Abstract

We performed adescriptive study on 149 patients admitted to the Multipurpose Intensive Care Unit of the Provincial Hospital Saturnino Lora in Santiago de Cuba during the period January 2007 to January 2010, with the final diagnosis at discharge of nosocomial pneumonia, and a measurement of gastric pH in order to determine its influence in the development of the condition and to establish its relationship with other variables of interest. 32.9% of patients with gastric pH greater than 5 had the condition, being more frequent in males and with ages from 60 to 69 years. it was concluded that it is important to measure the pH of gastric secretions to estimate the development of nosocomial pneumonia as it is directly proportional to the frequency of such condition which in turn is influenced by old age, abdominal surgery, head trauma, the use of stomach alkalizing drugs, the therapy with multiple antibiotics and extended hospital stay. The onset of the condition appeared to be more frequent after the fourth day of admission, so we recommend measuring the pH of gastric secretions in critically ill patients as a means to guide therapeutic conduct towards its correction to bacterial growth inhibitory values and thus reducing the risk of nosocomial pneumonia and avoiding whenever possible the use of stomach alkalizing drugs and therapy with multiple antibiotics in such patients.

Keywords:

gastric secretions; nosocomial; phpneumonia

Versión en Español

Título:

Influencia del pH de las secreciones gástricas en el desarrollo de neumonía nosocomial en el paciente crítico