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Letter regarding ‘Utilizing a line maintenance team to reduce central-line-associated bloodstream infections in a neonatal intensive care unit’

Journal of Perinatology volume 33, page 410 (2013)Cite this article

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We read with interest the article by Holzmann-Pazgal et al.,1 regarding a significant decrease in central line associated blood stream infection (CLABSI) when they introduced a percutaneously inserted central catheters (PICC) maintenance team, after unsuccessfully attempting to decrease the rate of infection with other methods.

We want to point out that 10 years ago, before broad implementation of bundles, public reporting of CLABSI, or the Medicare nonpayment policy on hospital acquired infection, we published in this very journal the same kind of results (Golombek et al.2). Our study was similarly conducted in a busy neonatal intensive care unit that had a problem with CLABSIs, which was also resistant to asepsis-targeted interventions. Our research similarly concluded that the PICC maintenance team provided ‘proactive management which significantly reduced the incidence of catheter-related infections, with a concomitant savings in morbidity and medical expense.’ With the introduction of a PICC maintenance team, we were able to reduce the incidence of CLABSI from 25% or 15.8/1000 catheter days to a rate of 7.1% or 5.1/1000 catheter days.

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References

  1. Holzmann-Pazgal G, Kubanda A, Davis K, Khan AM, Brumley K, Denson SE . Utilizing a line maintenance team to reduce central-line-associated bloodstream infections in a neonatal intensive care unit. J Perinatol 2012; 32: 281–286.

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  2. Golombek SG, Rohan AJ, Parvez B, Salice AL, LaGamma EF . Proactive management of percutaneously inserted central catheters results in decreased incidence of infection in the ELBW population. J Perinatol 2002; 22: 209–213.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, New York Medical College, Regional Neonatal Center-Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, NY, USA

    S G Golombek

  2. Columbia University—School of Nursing,

    A J Rohan

  3. Department of Neonatology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    B Parvez

  4. Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York,

    A L Salice

  5. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Regional Neonatal Center-Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, Westchester Medical Center, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA

    E F LaGamma

Authors
  1. S G Golombek
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  2. A J Rohan
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  3. B Parvez
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  4. A L Salice
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  5. E F LaGamma
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S G Golombek.

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Golombek, S., Rohan, A., Parvez, B. et al. Letter regarding ‘Utilizing a line maintenance team to reduce central-line-associated bloodstream infections in a neonatal intensive care unit’. J Perinatol 33, 410 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2012.128

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2012.128

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