The risk of catheter-related bloodstream infection after withdrawal of colonized catheters is low

• Published in: European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases 2014-05, Vol.33 (5), p.729-734
• Main Authors: Guembe, M., Rodríguez-Créixems, M., Martín-Rabadán, P., Alcalá, L., Muñoz, P., Bouza, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - isolation & purification; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial sepsis; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Blood; Blood - microbiology; Catheter-Related Infections - epidemiology; Catheters; Catheters - microbiology; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Fungi - isolation & purification; General aspects; Human bacterial diseases; Human infectious diseases. Experimental studies and models; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infectious diseases; Internal Medicine; Male; Medical instruments; Medical Microbiology; Medical sciences; Microorganisms; Middle Aged; Mortality; Nosocomial infections; Prevalence; Retrospective Studies; Risk assessment; Risk factors; Sepsis - epidemiology; Sepsis - microbiology; Sepsis - prevention & control; Staphylococcus infections; Survival Analysis; Treatment Outcome; Withholding Treatment; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0934-9723; 1435-4373
• DOI: 10.1007/s10096-013-2004-8

Most episodes of catheter-related bloodstream infection (C-RBSI) are documented before or at the time of catheter withdrawal. The risk of C-RBSI in the period after removing a colonized catheter in patients without bacteremia (late C-RBSI) is unknown. We assessed the risk of developing a late C-RBSI episode in an unselected population with positive catheter tip cultures and analyzed associated risk factors. We analyzed retrospectively all colonized catheter tips between 2003 and 2010 and matched them with blood cultures. C-RBSI episodes were classified as early C-RBSI (positive blood cultures were obtained ≤24 h after catheter withdrawal) or late C-RBSI (positive blood cultures were obtained ≥24 h after catheter withdrawal). We analyzed the risk factors associated with late C-RBSI episodes by comparison with a selected group of early C-RBSI episodes. We collected a total of 17,981 catheter tips: 4,533 (25.2 %) were colonized. Of them, 1,063 (23.5 %) were associated to early C-RBSI episodes and from the remaining 3,470, only 143 (4.1 %) were associated to late C-RBSI episodes. Then, they corresponded to 11.9 % of the total 1,206 C-RBSI episodes. After comparing early and late C-RBSI episodes, we found that late C-RBSI was significantly associated with the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, p  = 0.028) and with higher mortality ( p  = 0.030). According to our data, patients with colonized catheter tips had a 4.1 % risk of developing late C-RBSI, which was associated with higher crude mortality.