Abstract:
The letter by Liang et al signifies the ongoing efforts to reduce central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) in developing countries. The authors evaluated “insertion” and “maintenance” bundles for central venous catheters, but had problems achieving perfect compliance despite eliminating CLABSI for 8 consecutive months. This is likely because even partial compliance with bundles has shown reductions in CLABSI in previous studies. The authors describe their “insertion bundle” but do not elaborate on the “maintenance bundle” and its compliance rates, which are equally important in reducing CLABSI and could be the predominant factor in eliminating their CLABSIs. It would also be interesting to know if they observed any reduction in the number of total catheter days in their patients.
Reference:
Khalid, I. and Qabajah, M.R. (2014) Reply: Compliance with central line insertion bundles in an intensive care unit. AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control. 42(5), p.582-583.