Catheter-related infection in gastrointestinal fistula patients

AIM: To study the incidence, bacterial spectrum and drug sensitivity of catheter-related infection (CRI) in gastrointestinal fistula patients. METHODS: A total of 216 patients with gastrointestinal fistulae during January 1998 to April 2001 were studied retrospectively. Two hundred and sixteen catheters of the 358 central venous catheters used in 216 gastrointestinal fistula patients were sent for microbiology analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-five bacteria were cultivated in 88 catheters (24.6%). There were 54 Gram-negative bacteria (56.8%), 35 Gram-positive bacteria (36.8%), and 6 fungi (6.4%). During the treatment of CRI, 20 patients changed to use antibiotics or antifungal, and all patients were cured. The mean time of catheters used was 16.9+/-13.0 d. CONCLUSION: CRI is still the common complication during total parenteral nutrition (TPN) treatment in patients with gastrointestinal fistulae, and Gram-negative bacteria are the main pathogens, and bacterial translocation is considered the common reason for CRI.