COSMOS Study Microbiological Results: Bacterial Colonization and Infection of Long-Term Peripheral Catheters

Abstract

BackgroundAs the use of intravenous devices (IVD) has risen so have the number of serious complications, mainly infectious, associated with its use. In fact, IVD are currently the most important independent cause of nosocomial infection in the health care sector [1,2]. Catheter-related infections (CRI) are the leading cause of primary septicemia with a high prevalence leading to increased hospital stays and costs. Furthermore they carry a 3% mortality [3]. Catheter-related infection in peripheral cathetersSpanish data from the program of surveillance of infections in AbstractBackground: Peripheral venous catheters (PVC) have a lower risk of the infection than central venous catheters (CVC), however, their high frequency of use makes PVC a major problem.