title: The clinical impact of culturing central venous catheters. A prospective study.
abstract: The semiquantitative culture technique is a standard procedure for the laboratory diagnosis of catheter-associated infections and catheter-associated bacteremia. In a prospective observational study, we evaluated the clinical impact of the semiquantitative culture results on the treatment of the patient. Clinical impact was defined as a change in diagnosis or therapy on the basis of the semiquantitative culture result. One hundred fifty-seven catheters consecutively submitted from the surgical intensive care unit to the laboratory were studied. In 96% of the episodes, no clinical impact was observed. In the other 4%, clinical decisions were guided mainly by the concurrent positive blood cultures. Newer laboratory techniques that do not require removal of the catheter are needed to guide therapeutic decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City 52242.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Widmer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nettleman
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Flint
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Wenzel
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents