The number of bloodstream infections in intensive care unit patients with central lines decreased by 58 percent in 2009 compared to 2001, according to a newreport from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CDC said that over the nine-year period,the decrease represented up to 27,000 lives saved and $1.8 billion in excess health care costs. Bloodstream infections in patients with central lines can be deadly, killing as many as 1 in 4infectedpatients.
A central line is a tube usually placed in a large vein of a patient's neck or chest to deliver treatment in an intensive care unit, elsewhere in the hospital, and during dialysis. A bloodstream infection can happen when germs enter the blood through a central line, often because proper procedures were not used while the central line was placed or maintained.
In recent years, studies have proven that health care providers can prevent most bloodstream infections in patients with central lines by following CDC infection control recommendations, which include removing central lines as soon as medically appropriate. In hemodialysis patients, central lines should only be used when other options are unavailable.
"Preventing bloodstream infections is not only possible, it should be expected. Meticulous insertion and care of the central line by all members of the clinical care team including doctors, nurses and others at the bedside is essential. The next step is to apply what we've learned from this to other health care settings and other health care-associated conditions, so that all patients are protected," said Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., CDC director.
In addition to the ICU findings, the report found that about 60,000 bloodstream infections in patients with central lines occurred in non-ICU health care settings such as hospital wards and kidney dialysis clinics. About 23,000 of these occurred in non-ICU patients (2009) and about 37,000 infections occurred in dialysis clinics patients (2008).
