Ml. Moro et al., RISK-FACTORS FOR CENTRAL VENOUS CATHETER-RELATED INFECTIONS IN SURGICAL AND INTENSIVE-CARE UNITS, Infection control and hospital epidemiology, 15(4), 1994, pp. 253-264
OBJECTIVE: To identify avoidable risk factors for central venous cathe
ter (CVC) infections in patients undergoing short-term catheterization
. DESIGN: Prospective multicenter cohort study. SETTING: Two universit
y teaching hospitals and five large nonteaching hospitals. PATIENTS: P
atients admitted to intensive care units or surgical units and exposed
to short-term CVCs. RESULTS: Of 623 catheterization episodes, 9.3% we
re associated with catheter-related infections (CRI). The skin at the
catheter site was frequently colonized (16.2%) and was the potential s
ource of infection in 56.1% of the cases, mostly local infections. The
hub was colonized less frequently (3.5%) but was responsible for syst
emic infections more frequently. The following variables were independ
ently associated with CRI: duration of catheterization (for 7 to 14 da
ys, odds ratio [OR], 3.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]95, 1.4 to 10.7;
and for > 14 days, OR, 5.1; CI95, 1.7 to 15.4), coronary care unit se
rvice (OR, 6.7; CI95, 1.1 to 42.9) or surgery service (OR, 4.4; CI95,
1.03 to 18.5), second episode of catheterization (OR, 7.6; CI95, 1.8 t
o 32.3), skin colonization at the insertion site (OR, 56.5; CI95, 10.8
to 296), and hub colonization (OR, 17.9; CI95, 2.4 to 132). The risk
associated with skin colonization varied with use of jugular access or
simultaneous colonization of the hub. When only symptomatic CRI was c
onsidered, the risk associated with hub colonization was consistently
higher (OR, 36.6; CI95, 7 to 190) than that associated with skin colon
ization (OR, 3.2; CI95, 0.7 to 14). Age, transparent dressing, jugular
insertion, male gender, duration of catheterization, and hub coloniza
tion were independent risk factors for skin colonization. The effect o
f age varied by type of dressing and vice versa; the effect of jugular
access varied by sex; and the effect of transparent dressing varied b
y length of catheterization and vice versa. Total parenteral nutrition
and skin colonization were independently associated with an increased
risk of hub colonization. CONCLUSIONS. Skin and hub colonization are
the two major determinants for endemic CRIs; colonization of the hub,
however, is more frequently associated with more severe infections. In
order to reduce CRIs, more efforts should be focused on understanding
which,factors increase the risk of colonization both of the skin and
of the hub (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1994; 15:253-264).