The Journal of hospital infection
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Evaluation of chlorhexidine and silver-sulfadiazine impregnated central venous catheters for the prevention of bloodstream infection in leukaemic patients: a randomized controlled trial.
It has been suggested that central venous catheters impregnated with antiseptics such as chlohexidine and silver-sulfadiazine reduce the risk of catheter-related bacteraemia in intensive care patients. Patients suffering from haematologic malignancy treated by chemotherapy through a central venous catheter are at even greater risk of catheter-related bacteraemia. A prospective double-blind randomized controlled trial was performed in order to investigate the effectiveness of chlorhexidine and silver-sulfadiazine impregnated catheters (CH-SS) in these patients. ⋯ There was no statistically significant different between the overall rates of bloodstream infection for impregnated and non-impregnated catheters (14.5 vs. 16.3%). The incidence of catheter-related infection was also similar in both groups (5 vs. 4.4%) and there was no difference in the time of the onset of bacteraemia in the two groups. It is concluded that the use of CH-SS catheters in patients with haematologic malignancy reduces neither the overall risk of bloodstream infection, nor the catheter-related infection rate, nor the delay for the occurrence of infection.