Intravascular catheter related bloodstream infection: epidemiology, pathogenesis and prevention

Intravascular catheters are increasingly used in modern medicine. Unfortunately, infectious complications of catheter use are not rare. Clinical infection, however, is largely preventable. Over the past decade more knowledge has been gathered about the pathogenesis and epidemiology of these infections. Controlled clinical trials have allowed to formulate practice guidelines for prevention. Some controversies remain, however, and need to be resolved by further study.