آلودگي باكتريايي كاتترهاي درون رگي در بيماران بستري

Bacterial Contamination of Peripheral Intravenous Catheters in Hospitalized Patients

Background and objective: There are a few reports about bacterial contamination of catheters in Iran, so current study was carried out to investigate the bacterial contamination of peripheral intravenous catheters in the patients hospitalized in Shohada and Taleghani Hospitals. Materials and methods: A total of 300 peripheral intravenous catheters from the patients hospitalized in Shohada and Taleghani Hospitals were collected and transferred to bacteriology laboratory of faculty of health, Tehran University of medial sciences. They were incubated on the blood agar medium for 24-48 h at 37 c. Bacterial isolates was identified according to standard biochemical and serological methods. Results: Of 300 peripheral intravenous catheter specimens, 51(17%) had positive results for bacterial contamination. Thirty-one contaminated catheters belonged to male patients and the rest were belonged to females. Staphylococcus epidermidis was isolated from 27(53%) culture positive catheters. Conclusion: Current study showed Staphylococcus epidermidis as most prevalent cause of catheter contamination followed by Staphylococcus aureus. Proper skin disinfection prior to catheterization is recommended to reduce the bacterial contamination due to S. epidermidis.