CLOSED TRACHEAL SUCTIONING SYSTEMS AND INFECTION-CONTROL IN THE INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

Closed tracheal suction catheters offer a number of microbiological ad vantages over the conventional single-use suction catheters. Intensive care staff, however, have experienced difficulties such as pooling of the catheter irrigation saline within the connectors, and hand contam ination from condensate which escapes via the irrigation port. Using a descriptive survey design wt: quantified how frequently these problem s occurred. Over an eight-week period, staff completed. 923 survey for ms. Hand contamination from condensate was reported in 61% of response s. Rinsing the catheter after use was ineffective in 39% of responses, and 70% reported pooling of the saline in the swivel and ventilator c onnectors. Forty-five percent of responses reported ineffective secret ion removal. The infection implications for clinical practice are disc ussed.