Abstract:
We read with great interest the article by Khalid et al, who demonstrated that a rate of no incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) is achievable in 1 developing country in Asia. CLABSI is associated with high morbidity and mortality and becomes a life-threatening issue in intensive care units (ICUs). Our ICU, which is located in southern Taiwan—another Asian country—is no exception. Although the incidence of CLABSI declined from 4.5 per 1,000 catheter-days in 2009 to 2.16 per 1,000 catheter-days in 2010 in our intensive care unit, we are still eager to improve the situation to achieve the goal of “Zero CLABSI.” Since March 2013, 2 major central line care bundles, including insertion bundles for reducing the risk of infection during the insertion of central venous catheters (CVCs) and maintenance bundles for minimizing the risk of infection while caring for a CVC during use, were implemented in our ICU to prevent CLABSI. Because studies about CVC insertion bundle compliance in ICUs is scarce, our study was conducted to investigate the adherence to a CVC insertion bundle during an improving quality-of-care process in our ICU.
Reference:
Liang, H-W. and Lin, H-L. (2014) Compliance with central line insertion bundles in an intensive care unit. AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control. 42(5), p.581-582.