Chlorhexidine Swabs Effectiveness in Reducing Blood Stream Infections

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (Children's) is collaborating with Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA) in the nationwide effort to reduce catheter related blood stream infections (BSIs). "As well as the human cost, central venous catheter related bloodstream infections significantly inflate hospital costs, mainly through increased length of stay in hospital, particularly in intensive care" (Jones, 2006).

The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) is participating in this initiative by implementing the BSI "Bundles" per the CHCA guidelines. BSI "bundles" are a group of patient care practices designed to reduce BSI infection rates with implementation in patient care areas. The bundles include recommendations for central line maintenance including line insertion, dressing changes, line accesses, and monitoring for medical necessity. These bundles were implemented on January 16, 2006, when the BSI rate in the CICU had peaked at 18.2 (rate of infections per 1000 catheter days). The BSI rates historically for the past two years have been highly variable (see attached graph for data from Jan. 04 through Oct. 06). The target goal is to maintain a rate below 3.7 which has only been realized twice since the January BSI bundle implementation.

Current practice for the care of central lines outlined in the BSI Bundles is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines published in 2002. These guidelines included important changes to practice involving the use of chlorhexidine (CHG) containing products for improved infection prevention. CHG solutions are currently available as either 2% or 3.15% chlorhexidine gluconate in a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution.

The Primary Aim is to determine if CHG is effective as an antiseptic wipe for accessing lines to draw blood and administer medications. Compare the effectiveness of CHG containing alcohol wipes (3.15% CHG/70% isopropyl alcohol) to plain alcohol in order to determine best practice for the CICU.