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Published on: July 6, 2015
No evidence that medicinal honey reduces bacterial skin colonisation at a peripheral catheter insertion site in dogs
1Department of Small Animal Medicine and Clinical Biology, Ghent University, St. Pietersnieuwstraat 33, Ghent, 9000, Belgium.
Objectives:
To determine whether topical exit-site application of medicinal honey at the catheter insertion place reduces bacterial skin colonisation.
Measurements And Results:
Dogs were selected at random and divided into the honey or the control group. When the catheter was removed, an area of approximately 3×3 cm of the skin at the insertion site was sampled with a sterile cotton swab. The catheter stayed in place for a median of 84 hours. Out of 46 patients, 6 patients in the honey group and 5 out of 54 patients in the control group had a positive skin culture at the time of catheter removal (P=0·547). Infection was clinically suspected in 1 of those 11 dogs; catheter-associated complications were observed in 8 additional dogs that did not have a positive skin culture.
Clinical Significance:
Few catheter-associated complications were observed. Extra attention to hygiene by working with a standardised catheter placement and handling protocol might have resulted in this low incidence. In this study topical application of a medicinal honey did not reduce bacterial skin colonisation at the insertion site of peripheral catheters in dogs.
