FRIDAY, June 1, 2007 (HealthDay News) -- A survey of more than 500 U.S. health care centers found that U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are more likely than non-VA hospitals to follow guidelines on preventing bloodstream infections linked to central venous catheters.
These catheters are inserted in a vein in the chest in order to give patients drugs, fluids or nutrition.
The recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality include:
- Maximal sterile barrier precautions for inserting a central venous catheter. This includes sterile gloves and gown, mask, cap, and a large sterile drape.
- Chlorhexidine gluconate (2 percent) on the skin as an antiseptic before insertion, rather than povidone iodine or alcohol.
- Replacing catheters as needed, rather than every 4 to 7 days.
- Using antimicrobial catheters, but only if other precautions don't reduce infection rates.
"While we're seeing the use of some of these recommendations in many hospitals, there are fewer hospitals outside the VA that are using them," study author Sarah Krein, a research health scientist with the Center for Practice Management and Outcomes Research at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and a research assistant professor at the University of Michigan, said in a prepared statement.
In this study, which received funding from the VA, Krein and her colleagues surveyed 95 VA and 421 non-VA hospitals between March 16 and Aug. 1, 2005.
They found that 84 percent of VA hospitals and 71 percent of non-VA hospitals reported regular (always, or almost always) use of maximal sterile barrier (MSB) precautions to prevent infections.
The study also found that 91 percent of VA hospitals and 69 percent of non-VA hospitals reported regular use of chlorhexidine gluconate as an antiseptic.
VA and non-VA hospitals fare equally in terms of routine central line changes and the use of antimicrobial catheters.
Overall, 62 percent of VA hospitals reported regularly using a combined approach of MSB, chlorhexidine gluconate and the avoidance of routine central line changes, compared with 44 percent of non-VA hospitals.
The findings are in the June issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
More information
The CDC has more about catheter-related bloodstream infections.
