Central venous catheter-related septicaemia in paediatric cancer patients

A prospective study of septicaemia, with special reference to central venous catheter (CVC)-related septicaemia, was performed over a nine-month period in paediatric cancer patients undergoing anti-neoplastic therapy. A total of 142 patients with 153 CVCs were included in the study. Seventy-two episodes of septicaemia were detected in 66 patients; overall, 46% of patients developed one or more episodes of septicaemia. Thirty-nine (54%) of these episodes occurring in 34 patients were CVC-related. Twenty-one (29%) of the episodes occurring in twenty patients were probably unrelated to CVCs and 12 (17%) episodes in 12 patients were of uncertain source. A total of 22932 CVC days were studied. The rate of CVC-related septicaemia was 1.7 episodes/1000 catheter days. Gram-positive organisms were commonest, causing 34 (87%) episodes of CVC-related septicaemia. Twenty-five (71%) of 35 evaluable episodes were successfully treated with antibiotics without CVC removal. Two patients died, CVC related sepsis probably contributing to death, and one patient suffered prolonged morbidity associated with CVC sepsis. Gram-negative organisms were the commonest cause of CVC-unrelated septicaemia, being implicated in 13 (62%) episodes.