Bacterial Colonization After Tunneling in Femoral Perineural Catheters (Tunnelized KT)

May 7, 2026 updated by: University Hospital, Rouen

Background: Bacterial colonization of peripheral nerve catheters is frequent, although infection is relatively rare. With central venous catheters, the tunneling of catheter into the subcutaneous tissue significantly decreases catheter colonization and catheter-related sepsis.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of bacterial colonization in adult patients with femoral tunnelized perineural nerve catheters.

Methods: A total of 338 patients with femoral catheter will be included in the study. The patients will be randomized to be included in the control group (without tunnelling) or in the group with catheter tunneled 2-3 cm subcutaneously. After removal, catheter will be analyzed for colonization (primary outcome). Quantitative culture will be used as described by Brun-Buisson for intravascular catheters. The site of insertion will be monitored daily for any signs of infection (secondary outcome).

Perspective: To show the incidence of femoral perineural catheter colonization is low with subcutaneous tunneling

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

338

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • France
      • Rouen, France, 76031
        • Rouen University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients scheduled to undergo scheduled orthopaedic surgery performed with a femoral perineural catheter

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age under 18 years
  • Local nerve pathology
  • Refusal to regional anaesthesia
  • Major psychological disorder
  • Major cardiac conduction disease
  • Infection at the puncture site

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control
Experimental: femoral tunnelized perineural catheter
Procedure: tunnelized perineural catheter
the catheter will be tunneled 2-3 cm subcutaneously.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
incidence of femoral perineural catheter colonization
Time Frame: between 24 hours and 72 hours
between 24 hours and 72 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University Hospital, Rouen

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 19, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 19, 2009

First Posted (Estimated)

November 20, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 7, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2008/065/HP

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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