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Volume of Blood Required to Obtain Central Venous Catheter Blood Cultures in Infants and Children
Author(s) -
Shulman Robert J.,
Phillips Sara,
Laine Laura,
Gardner Pat,
Nichols Valerie,
Reed Theresa,
Hawkins Edith
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.935
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 1941-2444
pISSN - 0148-6071
DOI - 10.1177/0148607193017002177
Subject(s) - catheter , blood culture , central venous catheter , medicine , venous blood , blood volume , prospective cohort study , predictive value , anesthesia , surgery , biology , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology
To determine how much blood must be discarded before one can obtain a reliable central venous catheter blood culture, we prospectively cultured the blood (from 96 patients) that is ordinarily discarded before obtaining blood for such a culture. We then compared the prospective culture results with those of the actual blood culture. Three sequentially drawn aliquots of blood were aspirated from the central venous catheter and cultured. The culture results of the second aliquot were comparable to those of the third (the portion usually cultured) in overall sensitivity (94.4%), specificity (94.9%), and positive predictive value (80.9%). Thus, the amount of blood that must be discarded (infants: 0.3 mL; children: 1.0 mL) before one can obtain an accurate central venous catheter culture is less than was previously thought. ( Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 17: 177–179, 1993)