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To the Editor: Dr Segers and colleagues¹ presented a randomized controlled trial that studied the prevention of nosocomial infections in patients undergoing cardiac surgery by using chlorhexidine gluconate to decontaminate the nasopharynx and oropharynx. This study was conducted in a community hospital in the Netherlands, and we are concerned that the results may not be generalizable to hospitals in the United States.

Data from more than 300 US hospitals are present in the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (NNIS) program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention² (now part of the National Healthcare Safety Network). They indicate important differences from the population studied in the article by Segers et al. In a study of 7835 US patients undergoing surgery, the average length of stay after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery was 8.6 days³; whereas, in the article by Segers et al, the length of stay was a . . . [Full Text of this Article]

William E. Scheckler, MD
william.scheckler@fammed.wisc.edu
St Mary's Hospital
Madison, Wis

RELATED LETTER

Chlorhexidine Gluconate for Prevention of Nosocomial Infection in Cardiac Surgery—Reply
Patrique Segers, Ron G. H. Speekenbrink, Dirk T. Ubbink, Marc L. van Ogtrop, and Bas A. de Mol
JAMA. 2007;297(10):1060.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLE

Prevention of Nosocomial Infection in Cardiac Surgery by Decontamination of the Nasopharynx and Oropharynx With Chlorhexidine Gluconate: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Patrique Segers, Ron G. H. Speekenbrink, Dirk T. Ubbink, Marc L. van Ogtrop, and Bas A. de Mol
JAMA. 2006;296(20):2460-2466.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT