A new commercial hub device designed to minimise
catheter-related infections was evaluated in a prospective, randomised trial in the
intensive care and surgical units of the Hospital de Tortosa Verge de la Cinta in patients in whom the
central venous catheters were expected to remain indwelling for at least 7 days. The assessments conducted at
catheter withdrawal included cultures of the skin at the
catheter site and cultures of the
catheter tip and the
catheter hubs; moreover, in cases of suspected
catheter-related
sepsis, samples of peripheral blood and infusion solutions were also cultured. Of the 130
catheters evaluated, 26 (20%) were withdrawn because of suspected
catheter-related
sepsis; 10 (15%) were in the control group and 16 (24%) in the new product group.
Catheter-related
sepsis was diagnosed in nine patients, six of whom were in the new product group and three in the control group; all
infections in the former group and only one in the latter group were caused by the
catheter connection. The rates of
catheter hub colonisation (10 cfu) and
catheter colonisation (15 cfu in semiquantitative culture and/or >1,000 cfu in quantitative culture) of hub origin were not significantly different between the groups (15 cases in the control group vs. 20 cases in the new product group, and 5 cases in the control group vs. 11 cases in the new product group, respectively). The data indicate that the use of the new
catheter hub device is no more effective in preventing
catheter-related infection than standard good clinical procedures.