The Journal of hospital infection
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Review Meta Analysis
Skin antiseptics in venous puncture-site disinfection for prevention of blood culture contamination: systematic review with meta-analysis.
Blood cultures drawn by venous puncture are common clinical procedures for the detection of bacteraemia. Blood culture contamination (BCC) can lead to clinical misinterpretation and unnecessary expenses. We aimed to systematically review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with skin antiseptics for prevention of contamination in venous-puncture drawn blood cultures. ⋯ Alcohol alone was not inferior to iodinated products for prevention of contamination in venous-puncture drawn blood cultures. The association of alcohol and povidone-iodine did not seem to be useful. Alcoholic chlorhexidine solutions reduced blood culture false positives compared with aqueous povidone-iodine.