Assad Hafeez, Farzana Mazhar, Saleem Qureshi, Khurshid Ahmed.
Incidence of infection in peripheral intravenous cannulas.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;11(7):421-3.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of infection in the peripheral intravascular devices of hospital. Design: An exploratory study conducted prospectively. Place and Duration of Study: It was conducted at KRL General Hospital, Islamabad over a period of six months. Subjects and Methods: Intravenous cannula tips from 69 hospitalized patients selected at random with age range from newborn to 70 years were immediately cultured on blood agar and MacConkey`s media and classified according to API 20E scheme by a trained pathologist. Blood cultures could be obtained in 33 (47.8%) patients only. Chi square test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Out of the 69 cannula cultures 40.57% showed positive isolates. The most common organism isolated was Staphylococcus aureus (11.59%) followed by Coagulase negative staphylococcus (CONS) 8.69%, bacillus species 8.69% and Burkholdaria cepacia 4.34%. Among 33(47.8%) patients from whom blood cultures were obtained, only 5 (15.1 %) showed positive growth. The use of cannula for > 72 hours but < 5 days was not associated with a significantly higher number of positive cultures (P value > 0.1). Similarly, use of antibiotics did not decrease the infection rate in cannulas as compared to cannulas used for other purposes (P value > 0.1). Conclusion: Intravascular devices could be an important portal of entry for nosocomial infection if appropriate care is not observed during the procedure. A single cannula can be used up to five days without any hazard of infection. Awareness and advantages of aseptic techniques should be promoted regarding the potential complications of intravascular devices among all health workers.

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