title: The risk of central venous catheter-related sepsis in patients with surgical infections.
abstract: A prospective study on the incidence of central venous catheter-related sepsis (CRS) in patients with or without concomitant bacterial infections was performed. In 194 patients, 315 central venous catheters were placed, mainly for parenteral nutrition and CVP measurement. Catheter sepsis in patients with surgical sepsis was 4.0% compared with 3.6% in the non-infected group. CRS occurred exclusively in patients with an open distant infection. Subdivision of the group of patients with infection showed that those with 'open' infection had significantly more CRS than those without open wounds. The results strongly suggest an almost exclusive exogenous route for catheter contamination. It is concluded that risk of catheter sepsis is not enhanced by the presence of concomitant infections located elsewhere. The low incidence and relative benign course of catheter-related sepsis in seriously ill patients with a surgical infection tends to widen the indication for central venous catheterisation rather than to restrict it.
mesh_terms: D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology*; D013350:Subclavian Vein; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000150:complications*