INTRAVASCULAR CATHETER-ASSOCIATED SEPSIS - A COMMON PROBLEM

Objective: To estimate the number of episodes of intravascular cathete r associated sepsis that occur in Australia per year. Design and setti ng: Data were collected from 15 Australian hospitals (mainly tertiary referral hospitals). Ah positive results of blood cultures were follow ed up and the primary sepsis site identified and recorded. The average study period was 1.2 years. Results: Eight hundred and nine episodes of systemic sepsis associated with intravascular catheters were identi fied from 4957 separate episodes of bacteraemia or fungaemia. Of those in which the catheter site was known, there were 491 episodes of seps is associated with central vein catheters and 233 with peripheral vein catheters. Systemic sepsis with peripheral vein catheters occurred wi th 0.36 of every 1000 catheters purchased, but with central vein cathe ters it was 23 episodes per 1000 catheters (relative risk, 64; 95% con fidence interval, 54-76). In these hospitals, 8.2 episodes of intravas cular catheter associated sepsis occurred annually per 100 beds and 1. 5 episodes per 1000 admissions. From these figures, at least 3000 case s of intravascular sepsis may occur per year in Australia. Conclusions : Intravascular catheter sepsis is common. Central vein catheters caus e more sepsis than peripheral vein catheters. With the greater use of catheters this problem is likely to increase.