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In vitro survival of skin flora in heparin locks and needleless valve infusion devices
E L Larson1, G Cheng, J T Choo
1Georgetown University School of Nursing, Washington, DC 20007.
Objective:
To determine the extent to which two types of infusion devices, the heparin lock and a needleless valve device, allowed the persistence of inoculated microorganisms.
Design:
Experiment.
Setting:
Clinical microbiology laboratory.
Outcome Measures:
Bacterial counts in infusion devices.
Intervention:
Five of each type of device were inoculated with approximately 10(5) colony-forming units of a strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Enterobacter aerogenes and tested for growth at seven time intervals, from 10 minutes to 72 hours after inoculation.
Results:
Both strains of bacteria were present in each device at every time interval tested, including 72 hours after inoculation.
Conclusions:
Bacteria introduced into a heparin lock or valve device may be isolated for prolonged periods of time. This suggests that if such devices are contaminated during use, they may be a potential source of infection. The risk of infection should be one major consideration in risk and benefit deliberations when choosing new products.