Prevalence of nosocomial blood stream infections through peripheral lines

Introduction: Peripheral intravenous catheter associated blood stream infections are a cause of nosocomial infections which can lead to substantial patient morbidity and increased health care costs. I took this study because more studies are only on central venous associated blood stream infections and PVC-BSI is submerged. Aim: To determine colonizing bacteria on peripheral intravenous catheter & their associated blood stream infections and to determine their antibiotic susceptibilities. Methods: Fifty patients from different medical intensive care units and post operative patients in maternity ward were included in study, conducted in department of microbiology, SVMC, tirupati. Five cms of peripheral venous tip should be cut aseptically placed in sterile container and 10ml of blood from another vein inoculated to BHI broth after 48 hrs of catheter insertion and processed according to conventional microbiological techniques Results: out of fifty patients fourteen showed positive tip culture and of which four showed positive blood cultures. Most common organisms are Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase negative Staphylococci, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii, Enterococci. Most of them Multi drug resistant pathogens. Conclusion: Even though peripheral venous associated blood stream infections shows low incidence, it is remarkable in terms of patient morbidity and their safety. From the point of view of quality of care we recommend that hospitals emphasize increasing improvement initiatives with in a wider total quality process that includes adequacy of venous access, optimal insertion care maintenance & management of intravenous therapy.