Reducing infection with better IV management

SUZANNE CALLANDER reports on a passive disinfection device which, along with good staff compliance to hub cleaning protocol for needle free devices, has been found to reduce rates of catheter related bloodstream infection (CRBSI).

Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) account for up to 20% of hospital-acquired infections in the UK and are associated with both increased ICU stay and mortality. A study undertaken at The Johns Hopkins University in the US showed that bloodstream infections were the third leading cause of hospital-acquired infections and they have an attributable mortality rate of up to 25%.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US agrees with the mortality figures. It also says that many other patients with a CRBSI will have extended hospital stays, and increased overall treatment costs. 

CRBSI is defined as the presence of bacteraemia originating from an intravenous catheter. It is one of the most frequent and costly complications of central venous catheterisation and is also the most common cause of nosocomial bacteraemia. Organisms associated with CRBSI are usually the normal resident flora of the skin at the insertion site – mainly bacteria and yeast – which colonise the catheter.