Central Venous Catheter Colonisation: Prevalence and Associated Factors Among Critically Ill Patients Admitted to Ugandan Intensive Care Units

Central venous catheter (CVC) insertion technique and time spent in situ (dwell period) are major risk factors for CVC colonisation among patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) worldwide. Normal skin flora colonizes CVCs early in their dwell period (< 7-10 days) causing variable occurrence of infections in all categories of patients. Uganda has no data on CVC colonisation and with increasing use there is concern of CVC colonisation and its consequences. This study was done to determine the prevalence and associated factors of CVC colonization among patients in general ICUs.

Methodology: This was prospective cohort study. Critically ill patients with CVCs in situ from four general ICUs were consecutively enrolled into the study. Data on socio-demographic, clinical characteristics (diagnosis, comorbidities) and CVC insertion (site, technique, experience) was collected using a standardised questionnaire until a sample size of 100 was achieved. At the time of CVC removal, the CVC tip (distal 5cm segment) was aseptically obtained and cultured for microorganisms using the semi-quantitative method. A blood culture sample (10mls) was also collected from a peripheral site at the same time. Data was double entered into EPIDATA version 3.1.5 and exported to STATA version 12.0 for analysis.