Chlorhexidine and gauze and tape dressings for central venous catheters: a randomized clinical trial

OBJECTIVE: to assess the effectiveness of the chlorhexidine antimicrobial dressing in comparison to the gauze and tape dressing in the use of central venous catheters. METHOD: a randomized clinical trial was conducted in the intensive care and adult semi intensive care units of a university hospital in the south of Brazil. The subjects were patients using short-term central venous catheters, randomly assigned to the intervention (chlorhexidine antimicrobial dressing) or control (gauze and micro porous tape) groups. RESULTS: a total of 85 patients were included: 43 in the intervention group and 42 in the control group. No statistically significant differences were found between dressings in regard to the occurrence of: primary bloodstream infections (p-value = 0.5170); local reactions to the dressing (p-value = 0.3774); and dressing fixation (p-value = 0.2739). CONCLUSION: both technologies are effective in covering central venous catheters in regard to the investigated variables and can be used for this purpose. Registry ECR: RBR-7b5ycz.