Probiotics Against Pathogenic Bacteria in Connection With Anaesthesia

Longer surgical procedures require intubation and there is a potential risk of contaminating the lower airways with pathogenic bacteria from the mouth and oropharynx. Healthy people seldom have pathogenic bacteria originating from the gastro-intestinal canal but those do occur among patients, both in those not so sick and patients with more severe problems. For ICU patients we have seen a reduction of emerging enteric bacteria in patients given oral care with probiotics and this is a pilot study to explore the possibility of the same kind of positive effects in patients due for longer (more than 4 hours of anesthesia) procedures. Randomisation * No prophylaxis * Preparation with a probiotic suspension before intubation. Cultures * oropharynx * before treatment * after intubation * before extubation * day 1 postoperatively * tracheal secretions * after intubation * before extubation