Journal of clinical microbiology
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J. Clin. Microbiol. · Jul 2011
Blood cultures at central line insertion in the intensive care unit: comparison with peripheral venipuncture.
Blood cultures are a key diagnostic test for intensive care unit (ICU) patients; however, contaminants complicate interpretations and lead to unnecessary antibiotic administration and costs. Indications for blood cultures and central venous catheter (CVC) insertions often overlap for ICU patients. Obtaining blood cultures under the strict sterile precautions utilized for CVC insertion might be expected to decrease culture contamination. ⋯ Contamination and true-positive rates were similar for culture sets from the two ICUs for each given culture source. Despite superior sterile precautions, cultures taken at the time of central line insertion had a higher contamination rate than did either peripheral or arterial line blood cultures. This may be related to the increased manipulations required for CVC insertion.