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Department of Internal Medicine, University of Geneva Hospitals, Switzerland.
BACKGROUND:Intravascular devices are a leading cause of nosocomial infection.Specific prevention strategies and improved guidelines for the use ofintravascular devices can decrease the rate of infection; however, theimpact of a combination of these strategies on rates of vascular-accessinfection in intensive-care units (ICUs) is not known. We implemented amultiple-approach prevention programme to decrease the occurrence ofvascular-access infection in an 18-bed medical ICU at a tertiarycentre. METHODS: 3154 critically ill patients, admitted betweenOctober, 1995, and November, 1997, were included in a cohort study withlongitudinal assessment of an overall catheter-care policy targeted atthe reduction of vascular-access infections and based on an educationalcampaign for vascular-access insertion and on device use and care.Incidence of ICU-acquired infections was measured by means of on-sitesurveillance. FINDINGS: 613 infections occurred in 353 patients (19.4infections per 100 admissions). The incidence density of exit-sitecatheter infection was 9.2 episodes per 1000 patient-days before theintervention, and 3.3 episodes per 1000 patient-days afterwards(relative risk 0.36 [95% CI 0.20-0.63]). Corresponding rates forbloodstream infection were 11.3 and 3.8 episodes per 1000 patient-days,respectively (0.33 [0.20-0.56]) due to decreased rates of bothmicrobiologically documented infections and clinical sepsis. Rates ofrespiratory and urinary-tract infections remained unchanged, whereasthose of skin or mucous-membrane infections decreased from 11.4 to 7.0episodes per 1000 patient-days (0.62 [0.41-0.93]). Overall, theincidence of nosocomial infections decreased from 52.4 to 34.0 episodesper 1000 patient-days (0.65 [0.54-0.78]). INTERPRETATION: Amultiple-approach prevention strategy, targeted at the insertion andmaintenance of vascular access, can decrease rates of vascular-accessinfections and can have a substantial impact on the overall incidenceof ICU-acquired infections.
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