title: Evaluation of the sterility of thermodilution room-temperature injectate preparations.
abstract: This study assessed the bacteriologic safety of room-temperature injectate used for cardiac output measurement in a surgical ICU, and compared its cost/benefit relationship to that of prefilled packaged syringes and a closed-loop injectate system. Ninety-five samples of injectate were obtained at four time intervals from staff-prepared syringes, and cultured for microbiologic growth. About 29% (27/95) of samples yielded bacterial growth, ranging from two colony-forming units to those too numerous to count. All positive samples contained skin flora, including coagulase-negative staphylococci and coryneforms. Additionally, five plates contained colonies of Gram-negative bacteria. Extended storage time increased the risk of contamination: 16.2% were contaminated within the first 24 h, whereas 45% were contaminated when stored for more than 72 h. Switching to a closed injectate system significantly (p less than .001) decreased the incidence of contamination by 1.2%, and also allowed a cost savings of $1.52/patient.
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maciorowski
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Adler
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004340:Drug Contamination; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005947:Glucose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D013242:Sterilization / Q000592:standards*; D013594:Syringes / Q000191:economics; D013696:Temperature; D013815:Thermodilution / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose