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No treatment protocol exists to guide the management of patients whose central venous catheters (CVCs), following removal, are found to be colonized with Staphylococcus aureus. In a retrospective study, researchers in Utrecht examined the incidence of subsequent S. aureus bacteremia (SAB) among such patients. The patients were treated at a single medical center between June 1, 2001, and October 1, 2006, and had negative blood cultures from 48 hours before to 24 hours after CVC removal. All were observed for 6 months after catheter removal.
Among the 99 patients who met study criteria, 50 received antistaphylococcal therapy for 3 to 21 days after CVC removal. Fourteen patients — 2 who received antibiotics and 12 who did not — subsequently dev…