In health news that has the potential to affect just about every patient admitted to the hospital for surgery, a new study highlights a risk in arterial catheter insertion in patients. Deadly infections can occur if proper safety protocols are not followed.
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“What’s disturbing about these serious infections from catheters is that they are 100 percent preventable,” Betsy McCaughey, former New York state lieutenant governor and founder of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, told LifeZette. “Contracting a terrible infection such as MRSA from bacteria (that are) allowed to get in because a catheter is inserted wrong is shameful when this is avoidable by taking appropriate precautions.”
“These serious infections from catheters are 100 percent preventable.”
An arterial catheter is a thin, hollow tube placed into an artery in the wrist, groin or other location to measure blood pressure, oxygen or carbon dioxide levels in critical care situations, according to the American Thoracic Society.
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Often healthcare providers aren’t following basic CDC recommendations for safe catheter insertion.
“There appears to be a significant deviation from clinical guidelines regarding a very commonly performed procedure in critically ill patients,” Andrew Levinson, co-author of the study, noted in the study findings, which were published in “Critical Care Medicine.”
“Most infections occur in settings where attention to detail is lacking.”
Almost 8 million catheters are placed in patients in U.S. hospitals every year. Improperly handled, these catheters can cause serious blood infections, as they provide an easy route for bacteria on the surface of the skin to enter the body.
Dr. William Grossman, a cardiologist at UCSF Medical Center, told LifeZette, “Infection from catheters is rare at our hospital. This is because great attention is placed on sterilizing the area, and on proper daily antiseptic care of the catheters. Most infections occur in settings where attention to detail is lacking.”
In 2011 the CDC published its recommendations for safe catheter insertion, specifying seemly common-sense measures such as the use of sterile gloves by healthcare professionals as well as the wearing of surgical caps and surgical masks while inserting catheters into patients. The recommendations also include the use of a small sterile drape when catheterizing.
Only 44 percent reported following recommended barrier precautions; only 15 percent reported using full barrier precautions, as outlined by the CDC.
The new study surveyed 1200 attending physicians, residents, fellows, physician’s assistants, nurses, and respiratory therapists. The respondents were members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the responses were anonymous.
The results were sobering: Only 44 percent of respondents reported following recommended barrier precautions, and only 15 percent reported using full barrier precautions as outlined by the CDC.
“Barrier precautions are employed inconsistently by clinical care clinicians across the nation, and such individuals underestimate the infection risks caused by arterial catheters,” said study co-author Dr. Leonard Mermel, medical director of the hospital’s epidemiology and infection control department, in a LifeSpan Health System news release.
Dr. Grossman had another warning for the especially vulnerable among us: “Patients with impaired immune systems are particularly susceptible to infection from almost any cause.”
Added McCaughey, “People have been admitted to the hospital simply to give birth or have surgery (and) have come out with a deadly bacterial infection. This can all be stopped by taking very important precautions.”
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