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Updated: May 14, 2026

A Protocol to Set Up Needle-Free Connector with Positive Displacement on Central Venous Catheter in Intensive Care Unit
Published on: July 13, 2019
Disinfection of needleless connectors with chlorhexidine-alcohol provides long-lasting residual disinfectant activity
Haeyeon Hong1, Debra Forbes Morrow, Thomas J Sandora
1Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract:
The optimal disinfection method for needleless connectors (NCs) is unclear. We used an experimental model of microbial NC contamination to test different scrub times (swipe, 5, 15, 30 seconds) of chlorhexidine-alcohol versus alcohol and for residual disinfectant activity. Swipe with alcohol did not adequately disinfect NCs, particularly when contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. With ≥5-second scrub, chlorhexidine-alcohol and alcohol performed similarly, but chlorhexidine-alcohol showed residual disinfectant activity for up to 24 hours.
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