Introduction: The risk of central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) related to cooling catheters used for therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is unclear.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis on 131 cardiac arrest survivors between 2007 and 2010, who underwent TH by femorally placed endovascular cooling catheter. All patients received prophylactic intravenous ampicillin-sulbactam for 72 hours to reduce the risk of aspiration pneumonia. Cooling catheter related CLABSI and other infections over a period of seven days from initiation of TH were estimated.
Results: Of a total 131 patients, 16 (12%) patients had bacteremia or infection prior to initiation of TH and were excluded. Of the remaining 115 (88%) patients, zero (0%) patients had cooling catheter related CLABSI and 23 (20%) patients had other infections during the study period.
Conclusion: In cardiac arrest survivors undergoing TH, femorally placed endovascular cooling catheter is not associated with an increased incidence of CLABSI.