Table 1.
Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) schemes and outcomes of prospective randomized trials
| Reference | Number of patients | Pulmonary infection incidence (%), control versus SDD | P value | Mortality (%), control versus SDD | P value |
| Aerdts et al. [14] | 88 | 69.2 vs 5.9 | 0.0001 | 15.4 vs 11.8 | Not significant |
| Blair et al. [15] | 256 | 34.4 vs 9.7 | 0.002 | 21.4 vs 10.5 | Not significant |
| de Jonge et al. [11] | 934 | -a | -a | 22.9 vs 14.8 | 0.002 |
| Cockerill et al. [16] | 150 | 18.6 vs 5.3 | 0.03 | 21.3 vs 14.7 | Not significant |
| Jacobs et al. [17] | 79 | 9.3 vs 0 | < 0.05 | 53.5 vs 38.8 | Not significant |
| Kerver et al. [18] | 96 | 85.1 vs 12.2 | < 0.01 | 32.0 vs 28.5 | Not significant |
| Krueger et al. [19] | 546 | 11.1 vs 2.3 | 0.007 | 28.6 vs 19.6 | Not significantb |
| Palomar et al. [20] | 83 | 50.0 vs 17.1 | 0.005 | 31.0 vs 24.4 | Not significant |
| Rocha et al. [21] | 101 | 46.3 vs 14.9 | < 0.001 | 44.4 vs 21.3 | < 0.05c |
| Sanchez-Garcia et al. [22] | 271 | 29.3 vs11.5 | 0.05 | 47.1 vs 38.9 | Not significant |
| Ulrich et al. [23] | 100 | 55.8 vs 14.6 | < 0.001 | 53.8 vs 31.3 | < 0.02c |
| Verwaest et al. [24] | 440 | 11.4 vs 6.6 | < 0.05 | 16.8 vs 15.5 | Not significant |
| Verwaest et al. [24] | 440 | 11.4 vs 7.0 | < 0.05 | 17.6 vs 15.5 | Not significant |
| Winter et al. [25] | 183 | 34.8 vs 3.3 | < 0.01 | 43.5 vs 36.3 | Not significant |
a Not evaluated. b Overall intensive care unit mortality was not statistically different, but the mortality was significantly reduced for patients with Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores of 20–29 on admission. c Not significant on intention-to-treat analysis.