Prevention of Intravenous Bacterial Injection from Health Care Provider Hands

Device-related bloodstream infections are associated with a significant increase in patient morbidity and mortality in multiple health care settings. Recently, intraoperative bacterial contamination of conventional open-lumen 3-way stopcock sets has been shown to be associated with increased patient mortality. Intraoperative use of disinfectable, needleless closed catheter devices (DNCCs) may reduce the risk of bacterial injection as compared to conventional open-lumen devices due to an intrinsic barrier to bacterial entry associated with valve design and/or the capacity for surface disinfection. However, the relative benefit of DNCC valve design (intrinsic barrier capacity) as compared to surface disinfection in attenuation of bacterial injection in the clinical environment is untested and entirely unknown. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate the relative efficacy of a novel disinfectable stopcock, the Ultraport zero, with and without disinfection in attenuating intraoperative injection of potential bacterial pathogens as compared to a conventional open-lumen stopcock intravascular device. The secondary aims were to identify risk factors for bacterial injection and to estimate the quantity of bacterial organisms injected during catheter handling.