title: Central venous catheter-related blood stream infections: incidence and an analysis of risk factors.
abstract: Six hundred and fifty-five central venous catheters (CVC) in 496 patients in the intensive care unit of Hospital Sultanah Aminah were studied to determine the incidence and risk factors for central venous catheter-related blood stream infection (CR-BSI). CR-BSI was diagnosed in 38 catheters, giving an incidence of 9.43 CR-BSI per 1000 catheter days. The mean duration in situ was 8.4 +/- 4.9 days for infected CVCs and 6.0 +/- 3.8 days for non infected CVCs (p = 0.001). CVCs inserted in ICU had the highest infection rate (9.4%) compared to those inserted in the operating theatre (1.4%) and ward (2.8%) (p = 0.001). The highest rate of CR-BSI occurred with 4-lumen catheters (usually inserted when patients needed total parenteral nutrition) with a percentage of 15.8%. The majority of the CVCs (97.9%) were inserted via the subclavian or the internal jugular routes and there was no statistical difference in CR-BSI between them (p = 0.83). Number of attempts more than one had a higher rate of CR-BSI compared to single attempt with percentage of 7.0% vs 4.8% (p = 0.22). The top two organisms were Klebseilla pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In conclusion, the incidence of CR-BSI in our ICU was 9.43 CR-BSI per 1000 catheter days. The risk factors were duration of CVC in situ, venue of insertion and use of 4 lumen catheter for total parenteral nutrition. The site of insertion, number of lumen up to 3 lumens and the number of attempts were not risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Care, Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zanariah
authors.forename: K I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balan
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002404:Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D012307:Risk Factors