Central venous catheters (CVCs) in neonates are associated with a risk of central line-associated
bloodstream infections (CLABSI). Most reports on the incidence of CLABSI in neonates focus on umbilical venous
catheters (UVCs) and peripherally inserted central
catheters (PICCs). We evaluated the incidence and risk factors for CLABSI in a cohort of neonates with femoral venous
catheters (FVCs), UVCs, and PICCs, with a gestational age ≥34 weeks born between January 1, 2006 and June 30, 2013. We included 2,986 neonates with a total of 656
catheters. The CLABSI incidence rate varied from 12.3 per 1,000
catheter-days in FVCs to 10.6 per 1,000
catheter-days in UVCs and 5.3 per 1,000
catheter-days in PICCs. In a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, we did not find a difference in CLABSI risk between the
catheter types (p = 0.29). The following factors were independently associated with an increased risk of CLABSI:
parenteral nutrition [hazard ratio (HR) 2.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-5.41], male gender (HR 2.63, 95% CI 1.17-5.90), and higher
birth weight (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.002-1.09), whereas
antibiotic treatment at birth (HR 0.25, 95% CI 0.12-0.52) was associated with a decreased risk.
CONCLUSION: In our cohort, we did not find a difference between the CLABSI incidence in FVCs, PICCs, and UVCs. Occurrence of CLABSI is associated with
parenteral nutrition, male gender, and higher
birth weight.
Antibiotic treatment at birth was associated with a decreased risk of CLABSI.