A central venous catheter (CVC) is an important medical device, but it could be preceding infection and the risk of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). CLABSI is a common healthcare-associated infection but results in high cost and mortality; therefore, various efforts to reduce CLABSI have been attempted.

In this retrospective, observational, quasi-experimental study in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a single tertiary care hospital, Bae, et al. (2022) reviewed and analyzed the data of CLABSI rates and days from the insertion to the removal of the temporary CVC between January 2018 and June 2021 with transient periods over nine months. Sequentially, all patients with the CVC in the ICU underwent the following interventions: maximal barrier precaution, automatic notification of catheter days and 2% chlorhexidine gluconate bathing. A segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series was conducted to compare the CLABSI rates before and after the introduction of multimodal interventions. During study periods, the impact of interventions on CLABSI was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analyses.

A total of 76,504 patient-days, 28,312 catheter days and 66 CLABSI cases were reviewed in ICU-hospitalized patients. As additional interventions, the CLABSI rate declined from 3.1 per 1000 CVC days to 1.2 per 1000 CVC days in post-interventions. In the pre-intervention and post-intervention periods, 4146 patents had one more short-term CVC. In the multivariate logistic regression analyses, multimodal intervention was one of determinants reducing CLABSI rates (odds ratio (OR), 0.52 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.28–0.94]). Indwelling time of CVC over 10 days was the risk factor for CLABSI rates (OR, 6.27 [95% CI, 3.36–12.48]). Of the three interventions, the automatic notification of catheter days was associated with decreased median monthly total CVC days and duration of CVC days per patient.

Multidisciplinary and evidence-based interventions could lead to a decrease in the CLABSI rates. Moreover, the automatic notification of catheter days of the electronic medical healthcare system has shortened the time of indwelling CVC.

Reference: Bae S, et al. The effect of the multimodal intervention including an automatic notification of catheter days on reducing central line-related bloodstream infection: a retrospective, observational, quasi-experimental study. BMC Infectious Diseases. Vol. 22, article number 604 (2022).