Detection of central venous catheter-associated sepsis.
To determine whether contamination of the catheter was the cause of pyrexis in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition through central venous catheters, semiquantitative culture of blood drawn through the line kept in place was performed. Eighty-three catheters from 75 patients were studied. The predictive value of a negative culture using this method was greater than 97%.
D000368:Aged; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010288:Parenteral Nutrition; D010289:Parenteral Nutrition, Total; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology