[Evaluation of the effect of a new fixation tape for tracheal catheter in intensive care patients].

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a new type of fixation tape for tracheal catheter in intensive care patients.

Methods: A purposive sampling study was conducted. Ninety patients experienced oral tracheal intubation for mechanical ventilation, and admitted to respiratory intensive care unit (ICU) of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from November 2015 to February 2017 were enrolled. All the patients were randomly (random number) divided into the control group and the observation group with 45 patients in each group. The patients in control group was treated with the traditional medical adhesive tape and fixation belt to fix endotracheal tube, while the patients in observation group was treated with a new type of tracheal catheter fixation tape. The fixation effect, skin complication rate, patient's comfort level, nursing workload and satisfaction were evaluated in both groups.

Results: There were 6 patients with mild displacement, 2 patients with moderate displacement and 1 patient with severe displacement in the control group, while there was no catheter displacement or detachment occurred in the observation group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ = 2.944, P = 0.003). In the control group, there were 39 patients with facial skin redness, 6 patients with facial skin damage, 36 patients with neck skin redness, and 2 patients with neck skin damage. In the observation group, there were no facial skin complications and only 2 patients with neck skin redness, and the skin complication rate was significantly higher than that of the control group (facial skin: Z = 9.173, P = 0.000; neck skin: Z = 7.549, P = 0.000). Compared with the control group, the patients' comfort levels were significantly elevated in the observation group (the intolerance patients: 9 vs. 24, the extreme discomfort patients: 4 vs. 8, Z = 3.695, P = 0.000). The total changing times of the fixation belt and operating time for each change in the observation group were significantly decreased as compared with those of control group [changing times of the fixation belt (times): 1.89±0.77 vs. 3.86±1.18, operating time for each change (minutes): 10.31±1.47 vs. 15.78±1.89, both P < 0.01]. Nursing satisfaction in the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (100% vs. 33.3%, P < 0.01).

Conclusions: The new fixation tape for tracheal catheter could significantly reduce the catheter displacement and detachment rate, and decrease the incidence of facial skin injury. It is easy to learn and worth to generalize clinically.