Impact of two bundles on central catheter-related bloodstream infection in critically ill patients

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the implementation of insertion and maintenance bundles on the rates of catheter-related bloodstream infection in an intensive care unit. METHOD: This is a quasi-experimental, before-and-after study with a non-equivalent control group. During a six-month period, insertion and maintenance bundles for the central venous catheters were implemented. Supervision guidelines were developed to assess compliance with the bundle and catheter characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 444 central catheters corresponding to 390 patients were observed, of which 68.7% were inserted in the unit. The maintenance and insertion bundles reached 62.9% and 94.7% compliance, respectively, and 50.7% of the insertions were supervised. It was possible to observe a 54.5% decrease in the rate of central catheter infection (3.48 vs 1.52 x 1000 days/catheter, p<0.05) when compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: The simultaneous implementation of insertion and maintenance bundles has a positive impact on the reduction of catheter-related bloodstream infection; therefore it is an efficient alternative to improve the quality and safety of care in high complexity units.