American journal of infection control
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Am J Infect Control · Aug 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison of bacterial contamination of blood conservation system and stopcock system arterial sampling lines used in critically ill patients.
Commonly placed to monitor blood pressure and to aspirate blood, arterial lines frequently cause complications. The blood conservation system (BCS) forms a closed infusion line and may be expected to reduce complications caused by intraluminal contamination. We compared microbial contamination resulting from use of BCS and 3-way stopcock catheterization. ⋯ There was less microbial contamination of intraluminal fluid when BCS was used for arterial catheterization.