Loading...
Central venous catheters (CVCs) and arterial catheters (ACs) carry substantial risk for life-threatening infection. Early detection and appropriate treatment are important to achieve favorable outcomes, but the underlying pathogens often elude conventional diagnostic efforts. Now, researchers in Australia have used a cultivation-independent molecular approach to investigate the bacteria present on these devices.
The investigation involved catheters from 15 critically ill adults with concurrently placed CVCs and ACs whose catheters were being removed for suspected infection. Mean catheter dwell-time was 5.6 days. Most of the patients were on systemic antibiotics at the time of catheter removal.
By standard “roll-plate” culture technique, 4 of …