Selective Decontamination of the Digestive Tract in Intensive Care Unit Patients

Brief summary

Introduction- Hospital acquired infections (HAI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality and increase health care costs. Critically ill patients are particularly susceptible to these infections and have an even higher mortality. One intervention that has gained much interest in the medical literature for reducing infection rates and deaths from HAIs is selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD). SDD involves the application of antibiotic paste to the mouth, throat, stomach and a short course of intravenous antibiotics. The evidence supporting the use of SDD for saving lives and preventing infections is actually quite strong. However, health care professionals in many parts of the world have refrained from using SDD due to fears of the effects of overuse of antibiotics on the frequency of infections with resistant bacteria such as multi-resistant Gram negative organisms, MRSA and Clostridium difficile. SuDDICU is a cross-over, cluster randomised trial comparing the effect of using selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) plus standard care, to standard care alone on hospital mortality in patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU). Secondary outcomes include an ecological assessment and a long-term health economic analysis.

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine), data processed 2026-10-29T09:00:05; modifications: selected fields only; whitespace normalized; brief summary truncated to 2,000 characters. Not a U.S. Government endorsement.

Trial details

acronym

SuDDICU

status

COMPLETED

phase

PHASE3

study type

INTERVENTIONAL

enrollment

20010

sponsor

The George Institute

conditions

Critical Illness; Sepsis; Septic Shock; Ventilator Associated Pneumonia

interventions

DRUG: SDD Oral Paste; DRUG: SDD Gastric Suspension; DRUG: Intravenous Antibiotic

start date

2017-05-01

start date type

ACTUAL

primary completion date

2023-04-26

has results

false

data source

ClinicalTrials.gov

data processed

2026-10-29T09:00:05

modifications

selected fields only; whitespace normalized; brief summary truncated to 2,000 characters