2026-06-28T15:00:05Zhttps://docta.ucm.es/rest/oai/request

oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1204282025-05-23T00:07:50Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15

Vascular catheter colonization: surveillance based on culture of needleless connectors Pérez Granda, María Jesús Guembe, María Cruces, Raquel Bouza Santiago, Emilio Background Superficial culture has a high negative predictive value in the assessment of catheter tip colonization (CC) and catheter-related bloodstream infection (C-RBSI). However, the process of hub culture requires the hubs to be swabbed, and this carries a risk of dislodging the biofilm. At present, most catheter hubs are closed by needleless connectors (NCs) that are periodically replaced. Our objective was to compare the yield of SC (skin + hub culture) with that of skin + NC culture in the assessment of CC and C-RBSI. Methods During 5 months, we included the patients on the Major Heart Surgery ICU when a central venous catheter (CVC) remained in place ≥7 days after insertion. SCs were taken simultaneously when the NC was withdrawn and processed by the semi-quantitative method, even when the catheter was not removed. All catheter tips were cultured. All NCs belonging to a single catheter lumen were individually flushed with 100 μl of brain-heart infusion (BHI) broth. We considered the lumen to be colonized when ≥1 NC culture from the lumen flush was positive. We collected a total of 60 catheters. Results The overall CC rate was 15.0 %, and we confirmed two episodes of C-RBSI. The validity values after the comparison of SCs with skin + NC culture for prediction of CC were the following: sensitivity 66.7 % vs. 77.8 %, and negative predictive value 93.6 % vs. 93.1 %. The sensitivity and negative predictive value for prediction of C-RBSI was 100 % for both SC and skin + NC culture. Conclusion The combination of skin and flushed NC culture can be an alternative to conventional SC for ruling out CC and C-RBSI. 2025-05-22T17:56:39Z 2025-05-22T17:56:39Z 2016-05-28 journal article Pérez-Granda MJ, Guembe M, Cruces R, Bouza E. Vascular catheter colonization: Surveillance based on culture of needleless connectors. Critical Care. 2016;20(1). 1364-8535 10.1186/s13054-016-1334-1 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/120428 https://doi.org/10.1186/S13054-016-1334-1 https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-016-1334-1 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Attribution 4.0 International BioMed Central Ltd