Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Jan 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialProspective, randomized study of ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients with one versus three ventilator circuit changes per week.
To assess the effect on the rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) of decreasing the frequency of ventilator circuit changes from three times to once per week. ⋯ Decreasing the frequency of ventilator circuit changes from three times to once per week had no adverse effect on the overall rate of VAP. Less frequent ventilator circuit changes may decrease the incidence of VAP among patients ventilated for no more than 1 week. However, the incidence of VAP may be higher among patients with once weekly circuit changes ventilated for more than 1 week.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Apr 1994
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPrevention of central venous catheter-related infections by using maximal sterile barrier precautions during insertion.
In many hospitals, the only sterile precautions used during the insertion of a nontunneled central venous catheter are sterile gloves and small sterile drapes. We investigated whether the use of maximal sterile barrier (consisting of mask, cap, sterile gloves, gown, and large drape) would lower the risk of acquiring catheter-related infections. ⋯ Maximal sterile barrier precautions during the insertion of nontunneled catheters reduce the risk of catheter infection. This practice is cost-effective and is consistent with the practice of universal precautions during an invasive procedure.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Dec 1989
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialMicrobial contamination of arterial infusions used for hemodynamic monitoring: a randomized trial of contamination with sampling through conventional stopcocks versus a novel closed system.
Arterial catheters are now commonly used to monitor blood pressure and obtain blood samples for arterial blood gas and other laboratory determinations. Stopcocks inserted into the pressure monitoring circuit have been the primary means of obtaining blood from arterial catheters. However, these stopcock systems have been associated with nosocomial contamination and bacteremias. ⋯ We found that use of the novel sampling system resulted in significantly fewer episodes of internal bacterial contamination of the arterial monitoring line (7%) than did the use of a stopcock system (61%). External contamination of the sampling port was also lower in the novel system (8%) than in the stopcock system (37%). This suggests that the closed system may reduce the risk of nosocomial infections in patients requiring arterial pressure monitoring.