Drug-Coated Sponges May Limit Catheter ... ( More than 10% of ICU patients are tho...)

Drug-Coated Sponges May Limit Catheter Infections

Date:3/24/2009

More than 10% of ICU patients are thought to develop these infections,,,,

TUESDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- Adding a sponge soaked in an antibacterial agent to the dressing around the spot where a catheter is inserted appears to reduce the chances that a potentially deadly infection will develop, French researchers report.

People in intensive care units (ICUs) usually require insertion of a central venous catheter. In the United States, about 80,000 catheter-related infections occur each year among ICU patients, including those caused by MRSA bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). The death rate from these infections can be as high as 11.5 percent, the researchers reported in the study.

"This is an important study," said Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine in New York City, who was not involved in the research. "The specific use of disinfectant in this way is important in preventing life-threatening infections" and has the potential to dramatically reduce the number of catheter-related infections, he said.

The report is published in the March 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

For the study, the research team randomly assigned more than 1,600 ICU patients to have their catheters inserted with sponges soaked in chlorhexidine gluconate, an antibacterial commonly used in mouthwash, or to have standard dressings used on the insertion site. Dressings were changed every three to seven days.

They found that the rate of infections dropped from 1.1 percent among people who'd had standard dressings to 0.5 percent among those with an antibacterial-soaked dressing -- a 61 percent reduction. The researchers estimated that the chlorhexidine gluconate dressings prevented one major infection for every 117 catheters left in place for about 10 days.

Besides reducing infections, use of
'/>"/>

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. UT Southwestern researchers find drug-coated stents less risky for heart bypass patients
2. Drug-Coated Stents Reduce Repeat Artery Procedures
3. More patients with drug-coated cardiac stents survive, avoid costly follow-up procedures
4. Drug-Coated Stents Still Spark Debate
5. New Drug-Coated Stent Does Well in Early Trial
6. Drug-coated balloon overcomes in-stent restenosis
7. Drug-Coated Balloons Keep Leg Arteries Open: Study
8. Drug-Coated Stents Better Than Bare-Metal Ones in Complex Cases
9. Drug-Coated Stents No Riskier in Long Run Than Bare Metal Ones
10. Study Finds Benefits With Drug-Coated Stents
11. Drug-Coated Stents Go Head to Head

Post Your Comments:

Drug-Coated Sponges May Limit Catheter ...( More than 10% of ICU patients are tho...),Health