[Infections related to parenteral nutrition catheter]

Infectious complications related to total parenteral nutrition (TPN) catheters were prospectively evaluated during a four-month period in a third level teaching hospital in which a protocol on parenteral nutrition is implemented. The study included 102 catheters inserted for a total of 1,448 days (mean 12.06 day/catheter). Local pain, redness, and fever were recorded among 1.9%, 9.8% and 10.7% of cases, respectively. In no case were the defined criteria for catheter related sepsis fulfilled. Catheter tips were cultured in 72.5% of the studied catheters. Tip colonization was observed in 4.1% of cultured tips whereas infection was detected in 8% of them according to microbiological criteria. During the same time period in the hospital, 15 episodes of catheter bacteremia among 6,874 inpatients were observed which were not related to parenteral nutrition, which represents 0.22% of inpatients. The conclusion of our study is that adhering to a parenteral nutrition protocol, with special emphasis in catheter and connection management involves a very low incidence of infectious complications related to parenteral nutrition.