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Comparison of Blood-Culture Contamination Rates in a Pediatric Emergency Room: Newly Inserted Intravenous Catheters Versus Venipuncture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Chris Ramsook*
Affiliation:
Section of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Kim Childers
Affiliation:
Section of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Stanley G. Cron
Affiliation:
Section of Academic General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Milton Nirken
Affiliation:
Section of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
*
113 Savannah Dr, Trinicity, Trinidad, West Indies

Abstract

We compared contamination rates of blood cultures obtained either from newly inserted intravenous catheters or via venipuncture. Of 2,431 blood cultures, the overall contamination rate was 2.7% (intravenous catheter, 3.4%; venipuncture, 2.0%; P=.043). The site of lowest contamination was the antecubital fossa, making this the optimal choice for blood-culture sampling.

Type
Concise Communications
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2000

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