A survey conducted by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence discovered a concerning amount of variety in how clinicians manage catheters placed in the arteries of intensive care unit patients.
In 2011, the CDC published recommendations suggesting that clinicians wear sterile gloves, a surgical cap and surgical mask, and use a small sterile drape when inserting catheters into the artery of a patient to help prevent infections.
The Rhode Island Hospital survey of 1,265 Society of Critical Care Medicine member clinicians found less than half (44 percent) use the CDC-recommended barrier precautions during catheter insertion. Additionally, only 15 percent of the survey respondents reported using full barrier protections.
"There appears to be a significant deviation from clinical guidelines regarding a very commonly performed procedure in critically ill patients," said corresponding author Andrew Levinson, MD. "Bloodstream infections are largely preventable, and if the survey results mirror the clinical practice in the U.S., there's work to be done in reducing risk of such infections."
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