Antimicrobial Central Venous Catheter Dose Not Reduce Catheter-related Bacteremia in Major Burn Injured Patients

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We previously reported that antimicrobial central venous catheter (CVC) reduced catheter colonization in major burn patients. In this study, we investigated whether antimicrobial CVC could reduce catheter-related blood stream infection (CRBSI) in major burn patients. METHODS: Burn patients with over 20% of total body surface area were randomly assigned to undergo catheterization with standard CVC (STD group, n=50) or antimicrobial Vantex(R) CVC (VTX group, n=50). Upon removal of CVC, bacterial cultures for wound, catheter tip, and blood were performed. RESULTS: Colonization rate was significantly decreased in VTX group (42%) compared to STD group (64%) (P0.05). CONCLUSION: Even though the antimicrobial CVC could reduce the catheter colonization, the CRBSI rate was not reduced by antimicrobial CVC in major burn patients.