An analysis of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections in patients treated in a Swedish Covid-19 intensive care unit.

Abstract

Catheter-related bloodstream infection is a well-known, severe complication of central venous catheter insertion. Studies that have evaluated the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic's influence on the incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infection in intensive care units are limited. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective study on catheter-related bloodstream infection in coronavirus disease 2019 intensive care unit with previously documented low incidence rates to evaluate the pandemic's impact. To evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on catheter-related bloodstream infection incidence in the intensive care unit. All central venous catheter-inserted patients aged ⩾18 years admitted to the intensive care unit with coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia were included. The primary outcome was the incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infection, and the secondary outcome was the detection of catheter-related bloodstream infection-causative microorganisms. During the pandemic's first year, 124 patients were admitted, and 203 central venous catheters were inserted. Two patients developed catheter-related bloodstream infection. The incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infection was 0.79/1000 catheter days. The microorganisms responsible for catheter-related bloodstream infection were Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli. This study revealed a low incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infection in the coronavirus disease 2019-intensive care unit, thus suggesting that coronavirus disease 2019 is not a risk factor for catheter-related bloodstream infection and indicating the high resilience of well-established routines aimed at catheter-related bloodstream infection prevention.