A clinical study of patients with central venous catheter associated bloodstream infections in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Central venous access puts the patients at risk of iatrogenic complications and is associated with bloodstream infections. Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are responsible for at least two-thirds of the infections followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus spp and Acinetobacter spp. Due to the scarcity of Central Venous Catheter associated Blood Stream Infections (CVC-BSI) data, this study was taken up in our tertiary care hospital. Aims: This study is aimed to study the profile of organisms causing CVC-BSI, assess their antimicrobial susceptibility, the clinical course and outcome.Methods: All subjects whose central venous catheter samples (n=84) were sent for culture and sensitivity during the study period were included in this prospective observational study. The study was done in the Department of Microbiology from July 2019 to December 2019. The catheter tips were streaked onto blood agar plate using Roll plate technique. After biochemical identification of the organisms, antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method as per the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Results: Growth of pathogens was seen in 64.3% (n=54). The common organisms were Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus aureus (CONS) in 27.78% (n=15), Enterococcus spp, Klebsiella pneumoniae in 14.8% each (n=8) and Acinetobacter spp in 11.1% (n=6). Resistance was seen with amoxicillin + clavulanic acid, cefepime, ciprofloxacin and cefoperazone. The organisms were sensitive to levofloxacin, tetracycline and vancomycin.Conclusion: Aseptic precautions taken by the healthcare personnel will bring down the infections and curb the spread of multi-drug resistant hospital acquired infections.