TREATMENT OF HICKMAN CATHETER SEPSIS USING ANTIBIOTIC LOCK TECHNIQUE

Antibiotic lock therapy, an alternative treatment for Hickman catheter sepsis, was evaluated in six recipients of prolonged outpatient intra venous therapy Twenty-two episodes of catheter sepsis were identified, involving coagulase-negative staphylococci (11), gram-negative bacill i (3), gram-positive bacilli (1), yeast (4), and mixed bacteria or fun gi (3). In a select group of patients, treatment was successful 92% of the time (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1995;16:596-598).