Alcohol Locks for the Prevention of Tunneled Catheter-related Infections
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Purpose
In modern-day medicine, the use of central venous catheters has become unavoidable. However, their use does not come without risk. It puts patients in danger of infectious complications (catheter-related infections [CRI]), the most important of which is catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI). CRBSI is associated with a significant increase in hospital stay and, therefore, cost of patient management, morbidity, and probably also mortality. There still is an urgent need for effective, cheap and easy to implement measures to prevent CRI that are without risk of developing antibiotic resistance.
During use, bacteria can colonize the inner surface of the catheter. This endoluminal route of infection can be prevented to some extent when an antibiotic solution is instilled in the catheter for a long enough time and on a regular basis. However, to avoid resistance from occurring, the use of antibiotics for infection prevention should remain exceptional.
The use of a non-toxic antiseptic might be a better alternative. Recently, the use of an alcohol lock solution was suggested as a promising way to prevent CRBSI and the compatibility of polyurethane and silicone catheters submerged in an alcohol solution was publicized with no biomechanical or structural changes detected after 9 weeks of immersion. The major advantage of an alcohol lock solution would be the broad antimicrobial spectrum without the risk of compromising future antibiotic treatment as, in contrast to the use of an antibiotic lock, the development of antibiotic resistance is not of concern. Furthermore it would be cheap and universally available.
In this randomised study, the efficacy of a 70% alcohol lock solution for the prevention of CRBSI will be compared with placebo when applied for 15 minutes per day.
| Condition | Intervention | Phase |
|---|---|---|
|
Bacteremia |
Procedure: Alcohol-lock Drug: placebo-lock |
Phase 2 Phase 3 |
| Study Type: | Interventional |
| Study Design: | Allocation: Randomized Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor) Primary Purpose: Prevention |
| Official Title: | Short Daily Alcohol Locks for the Prevention of Tunneled Catheter Infection in Patients With Haematological Disease. Randomised Placebo Controlled Trial |
- Endoluminal catheter related bacteremia [ Time Frame: at time of catheter removal ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
- All catheter-related bacteremias with differential time to positivity (DTTP) > 2 hours [ Time Frame: at time of catheter removal ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
- Catheter survival time [ Time Frame: at time of catheter removal ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
- Vancomycin and linezolid use [ Time Frame: at time of catheter removal ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
- Incidence of positive catheter tip cultures [ Time Frame: at time of catheter removal ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
- Incidence of bacteremia/fungemia (catheter-related or not) [ Time Frame: at time of catheter removal ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
| Estimated Enrollment: | 440 |
| Study Start Date: | August 2005 |
| Study Completion Date: | September 2009 |
| Primary Completion Date: | June 2009 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure) |
| Arms | Assigned Interventions |
|---|---|
|
Experimental: 1
The intervention is the instillation of ethanol 70% solution in the catheter lumen (or lumina) for 15minutes per day during hospital stay and for 15minutes for patients not in the hospital.
|
Procedure: Alcohol-lock
The intervention is the instillation of ethanol 70% solution in the catheter lumen (or lumina) for 15minutes per day during hospital stay and for 15minutes per week for patients not in the hospital.
|
|
Placebo Comparator: 2
The intervention is the instillation of placebo solution in the catheter lumen (or lumina) for 15minutes per day during hospital stay and for 15minutes per week for patients not in the hospital.
|
Drug: placebo-lock
The intervention is the instillation of placebo solution in the catheter lumen (or lumina) for 15minutes per day during hospital stay and for 15minutes per week for patients not in the hospital.
|
Detailed Description:
In modern-day medicine, the use of intravascular catheters has become unavoidable. In the United States, hospitals and clinics purchase more than 150 million intravascular devices each year of which more than 5 million are central venous catheters. However, their use does not come without risk. It puts patients in danger of mechanical, thrombotic and infectious complications (catheter-related infections [CRI]), the most important of which is catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI). CRBSI is associated with a significant increase in hospital stay and, therefore, cost of patient management, morbidity and probably also mortality. The increase in expenses was estimated to be 15,965 US dollars per patient with a CRBSI in 1994 and even 56,167 US dollars in another more recent study.
It is clear that the prevention of CRI is of utmost importance and will help to decrease patient suffering as well as cost of patient management. Extensive and detailed evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of CRI were recently published. However, many topics remain unresolved and there still is an urgent need for effective, cheap and easy to implement preventive measures that are without risk of developing antibiotic resistance.
Catheters can become colonized with microorganisms through exoluminal (catheter insertion site) or endoluminal (hub and infusates) routes. It has been shown that, the longer a catheter remains in place, the more important the endoluminal route becomes. The endoluminal route of infection can be prevented to some extent when an antibiotic solution is instilled in the catheter for a long enough time and on a regular basis. However, to avoid resistance from occurring, the use of antibiotics in such a lock for infection prevention should remain exceptional. Although there is evidence to support the concept, methodologically appropriate clinical data on the use of antiseptic solutions for this purpose are still awaited.
Recently, the use of an alcohol lock solution was suggested as a promising way to prevent CRBSI and the compatibility of polyurethane and silicone catheters submerged in an alcohol solution was publicized with no biomechanical or structural changes detected after 9 weeks of immersion. The major advantage of an alcohol lock solution would be the broad antimicrobial spectrum without the risk of compromising future antibiotic treatment as, in contrast to the use of an antibiotic lock, the development of antibiotic resistance is not of concern. Furthermore it would be cheap and universally available.
In this randomised study the efficacy of a 70% alcohol lock solution for the prevention of CRBSI will be compared with placebo when applied for 15 minutes per day.
Eligibility| Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years and older |
| Genders Eligible for Study: | Both |
| Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Patient at least 18 years old
- Admitted to the haematology department
- Had a tunnelled central venous catheter inserted in the preceding 72 hours
Exclusion Criteria:
- Known allergy to alcohol or active use of metronidazole (or related 2-nitroimidazole compounds) or disulfiram (Antabuse)
Contacts and Locations| Netherlands | |
| Erasmus Medical Center | |
| Rotterdam, Netherlands, 3000 CA | |
| Principal Investigator: | Bart JA Rijnders, MD, PhD | Erasmus Medical Center |
More Information
Publications:
Additional publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
| Responsible Party: | BJ, Rijnders |
| ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00122642 History of Changes |
| Other Study ID Numbers: | AL-01, SNO-T-07-57 |
| Study First Received: | July 19, 2005 |
| Last Updated: | September 24, 2009 |
| Health Authority: | Netherlands: The Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CCMO) |
Keywords provided by Erasmus Medical Center:
|
catheterization Catheters, Indwelling |
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
|
Bacteremia Hematologic Diseases Catheter-Related Infections Bacterial Infections Sepsis Infection Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome Inflammation Pathologic Processes |
Ethanol Anti-Infective Agents, Local Anti-Infective Agents Therapeutic Uses Pharmacologic Actions Central Nervous System Depressants Physiological Effects of Drugs Central Nervous System Agents |
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on May 16, 2013