title: Microbial contamination of three-way taps on arterial lines.
abstract: Arterial lines with three-way taps are used to measure blood pressure and aspirate blood, and are a potential source of catheter-related sepsis. Swabs were taken daily from 118 three-way taps on 98 arterial lines in a general intensive care unit. Infusion lines were changed weekly but arterial cannulae were not changed routinely. An overall contamination rate of 24.6% was found with the predominant organism being coagulase negative staphylococcus. The three-way taps became increasingly contaminated with time but this was shown to be unrelated to the manipulation rates. Blood culture organisms in those showing contamination of the three-way taps showed no relationship to the bacteria causing the contamination.
authors.affiliation: Intensive Care Unit, Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, New Zealand.
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Widdowson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Havill
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Sleigh
mesh_terms: D001158:Arteries / Q000382:microbiology*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D002404:Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification