BACKGROUND: Positive hemoculture associated with central venous catheters has been studied in intensive care units (ICU), but is still controversial if the internal jugular vein access has a higher incidence of infection than subclavian or femoral vein access. OBJECTIVE: To compare catheter-related bloodstream infection (CABSI) rates between internal jugular and subclavian vein access in patients admitted to surgical wards. METHODS: This is a prospective, descriptive and comparative study of 114 central venous catheters placed in 96 patients admitted to the surgical wards of a tertiary-care hospital. The following parameters were studied: local of insertion of the catheter (internal jugular versus subclavian), number of lumens (single versus double) and duration of use (longer or shorter than 14 days), in order to determine their influence in CABSI rates. RESULTS: The CABSI rate was 9,64% (11 catheters), with no significant statistical differences regarding the number of lumens (p=0.274), and duration of use (p=0.156). The CABSI rate was higher in the subclavian vein than in the internal jugular vein access (OR 11.2, 95%CI 1.4-90.8; p=0.023). CONCLUSIONS: The internal jugular vein access has a lesser incidence of CABSI than subclavian vein access in patients admitted to surgical wards.
catheterization, central venous; cross infection; bacteremia
