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The Potential for Contamination of Continuous Epidural Catheters

JOHN R. HUNT, MD^*, BENJAMIN M. RIGOR, SR., MD, and JACK R. COLLINS, MD

*Staff Surgeon, Anderson Memorial Hospital, 1310 North Boulevard, Anderson, S.C. 29621. Professor and Chairman, Program in Anesthesiology, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030. Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology, Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, Missouri. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Navy.

Abstract

In cultures from 102 patients undergoing continuous epidural catheterization, 22 catheters were found to be contaminated. No statistically significant correlation could be established between the contaminated catheters and the parameters monitored. A worrisome trend of contamination seemed to be developing in association with hospital-prepared epidural trays as well as the procedure of vaginal delivery. Hypotheses for these observations together with current prophylactic measures are discussed. One significant clinical infection occurred; a brief report of this patient is included.

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Anesthesia & Analgesia® is published for the International Anesthesia Research Society® by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins with the assistance of Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press®. Copyright 2006 by the International Anesthesia Research Society. Online ISSN: 1526-7598   Print ISSN: 0003-2999