title: Lower incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infection in cubital than in femoral artery access.
abstract: Data on catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) in cubital artery access are scarce. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the incidence of CRBSI in a large series of patients with femoral or cubital artery catheters. We found 11 events of CRBSI in 1085 femoral artery catheters during 6497 days and none in 449 cubital artery catheters during 2709 days. Poisson regression analysis showed a higher incidence of CRBSI in femoral than in cubital artery site access (1.69 vs 0 CRBSI events per 1000 catheter-days; odds ratio 6.41, 95% confidence interval 1.05-infinite; p = 0.02). In conclusion, according to the results of our observational study, cubital artery access could have a lower risk of CRBSI than femoral artery access. However the development of randomized controlled trials is necessary before this conclusion can be definitively established. In addition, it is necessary to consider other potential mechanical complications when decision-making.
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. lorentemartin@msn.com
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lorente
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: María M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: María T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Brouard
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Iribarren
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: María L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Mora
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D055499:Catheter-Related Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery; D005542:Forearm; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology