Bacterial Colonization After Tunneling in 402 Perineural Catheters: A Prospective Study

Bacterial colonization of peripheral nerve catheters is frequent, although infection is relatively rare. With central venous catheters, the tunneling of the catheter into the subcutaneous tissue significantly decreases catheter colonization and catheter-related sepsis. We evaluated the incidence of...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Anesthesia and analgesia Vol. 108; no. 4; pp. 1326 - 1330
Main Authors:	Compère, Vincent, Legrand, J F., Guitard, P G., Azougagh, K, Baert, O, Ouennich, A, Fourdrinier, V, Frebourg, N, Dureuil, B
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Hagerstown, MD International Anesthesia Research Society 01-04-2009 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Subjects:	Aged Analgesia - instrumentation Anesthesia Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy Biological and medical sciences Catheter-Related Infections - microbiology Catheter-Related Infections - prevention & control Catheterization - instrumentation Catheters, Indwelling - microbiology Colony Count, Microbial Equipment Contamination Female Humans Male Medical sciences Middle Aged Pain, Postoperative - prevention & control Peripheral Nerves Prospective Studies Staphylococcus - isolation & purification Time Factors Infection Bacteriosis Catheter Anesthesia Colonization
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Bacterial colonization of peripheral nerve catheters is frequent, although infection is relatively rare. With central venous catheters, the tunneling of the catheter into the subcutaneous tissue significantly decreases catheter colonization and catheter-related sepsis. We evaluated the incidence of bacterial colonization in adult patients with tunnelized perineural nerve catheters. Peripheral nerve catheters placed under sterile conditions for postoperative analgesia were evaluated prospectively. After removal, they were analyzed for colonization. Quantitative culture was used as described by Brun-Buisson for intravascular catheters. The site of insertion was monitored daily for any signs of infection. Four-hundred-two patients were included in the study during a 2-yr period. The mean duration of peripheral nerve catheters was 48 h (47-50.4). Positive culture occurred in 25 catheters, indicating that the incidence of colonization was 6.22% (3.8-8.5). The microbiological analysis of the catheter tip cultures revealed coagulase-negative staphylococci in 72%. Twenty-two catheters of 25 catheters each had one microorganism, and for three catheters, two microorganisms were identified. No infection was found in any patient. The incidence of perineural catheter colonization is low with subcutaneous tunneling. Controlled randomized studies are warranted to determine whether this procedure decreases the risk for infection.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0003-2999 1526-7598
DOI:	10.1213/ane.0b013e31819673aa