Prospective study of central venous catheter colonization and catheter-related bloodstream infection in intensive care unit, echocardiographic follow-up after catheter removal

Central venous catheter colonization and catheter-related bloodstream infections in critically ill patients: a comparison between standard and silver-integrated catheters

“…A CVC was removed when there was a suspicion of skin or CVC infection, when the CVC was no longer needed, and after 14 days (except in burn patients, in whom the indwelling time is recommended not to exceed 4-5 days). The duration of catheterization is based on the incidence of CVC infection from our unit infection control programme [14] and infection control programmes from other institutions [15,16]. If the risk of obtaining new venous access was higher than leaving the CVC in place, the CVC was left in situ more than 14 days.…”