Peripherally inserted central catheters and the incidence of candidal sepsis in VLBW and ELBW infants: is sepsis increased?
BACKGROUND
Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) have been widely used in neonatal clinics. However, the complications such as infection after PICC treatment are also confronting neonatologists especially in developing countries. This study was undertaken to investigate whether PICCs is a safe treatment for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants and extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants.


METHODS
Fifty-nine VLBW and ELBW infants receiving PICCs and 89 VLBW and ELBW infants receiving peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) were included in this study. The incidence of sepsis and mortality were compared retrospectively between the two groups.


RESULTS
There was no difference in the total sepsis incidence and mortality between the PICCs and PIVCs groups (P=0.11 and P=0.61 respectively). However, the candidal sepsis incidence was higher in the PICCs group than in the PIVCs group [6/59 (10.2%) vs 2/89 (2.2%); P=0.044 (Exat Sig. 1-sided), OR=4.93, 95% CI 0.96-25.3].


CONCLUSIONS
Placement and indwelling of PICCs are a potential risk factor for candidal sepsis among VLBW and ELBW infants.
Xia
Bin
B
Department of Pediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Tang
Jun
J
Xiong
Ying
Y
Li
Xi-Hong
XH
Mu
De-Zhi
DZ
D002177:Candidiasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055499:Catheter-Related Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous / Q000009:adverse effects; D002406:Catheterization, Peripheral / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D052577:Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality