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UMBILICAL ARTERY CATHETERIZATION IN NEWBORNS
Author(s) -
WESSTRÖM GÖRAN,
FINNSTRÖM ORVAR
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1979.tb18444.x
Subject(s) - medicine , umbilicus (mollusc) , umbilical artery , catheter , gestational age , white blood cell , antibiotics , complication , umbilical vein , surgery , pregnancy , gestation , biochemistry , chemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , in vitro , genetics
. Wesström, G. and Finnström, O. (Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden). Umbilical artery catheterization in newborns. II. Infections in relation to catheterization. Acta Paediatr Scand, 68: 713, 1979.—Infections, as a complication of umbilical artery catheterization, were studied in 65 sick newborn infants. Every second day during the catheterization period peripheral blood cultures as well as blood samples for white cell count and platelets were taken. Cultures were taken from the catheter tips and from the umbilicus at the time of withdrawal of the catheter. Local or systemic antibiotics were not used prophylactically, but on rather broad clinical indications. No case of septicemia was found, but 8 infants had positive blood cultures and 16 had positive catheter tip cultures. Positive catheter tip culture occurred more often in infants who were born before 32 weeks of gestational age. Neither the duration of the catheterization nor the treatment with antibiotics influenced significantly the frequency of positive cultures.