Objectives: This study aimed to identify the microbiological oropharyngeal colonization pattern in children admitted at a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and to verify the influence of children's and implemented therapies' characteristics before admission at the UCIP on this pattern. Prospective study realized at a PICU of a university hospital. METHODS: Samples of oropharyngeal secretion were obtained in the first 24 hours of the children's admission. Variables related to the children's and the therapies' characteristics were investigated. RESULTS: The majority of the children had normal nutritional state, admitted in the hospital in emergencies situations, with chronic diseases and without alterations in the clinical conditions of the oral cavity. CONCLUSION: The children who were colonized by pathogenic microorganisms presented a longer hospital stay (p=0,020) than those with cultures with normal flora species. The investigated characteristics of the children did not exert any significant influence the microbiological oropharyngeal colonization pattern.
Pediatric nursing; Cross infection; Pediatric intensive care unit; Oropharynx; Pneumonia
