van den Bosch C, Moree J, Peeters S, Lankheet M, van der Steeg A, Wijnen M, van de Wetering M, van der Bruggen J. The effect of taurolidine on the time-to-positivity of blood cultures.
Infect Prev Pract 2024;
6:100352. [PMID:
38510847 PMCID:
PMC10950745 DOI:
10.1016/j.infpip.2024.100352]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Background
Taurolidine containing lock solutions (TL) are a promising method for the prevention of central line associated bloodstream infections. Per accident, the TL may not always be aspirated from the central venous catheter (CVC) before blood cultures are obtained. The TL could, unintentionally, end up in a blood culture vial, possibly altering the results. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the TLs on the detection of microbial growth in blood culture vials.
Methods
Different lock solutions (taurolidine-citrate-heparin (TCHL), taurolidine, heparin, citrate or NaCl) were added to BD BACTECTM blood culture vials (Plus Aerobic/F, Lytic/10 Anaerobic/F or Peds Plus/F) before spiking with Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213 or a clinical strain) or Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922 or a clinical strain) in the presence and absence of blood. Subsequently, blood culture vials were incubated in the BD BACTEC FX instrument with Time-to-positivity (TTP) as primary outcome. In addition, the effect of the TCHL on a variety of other micro-organisms was tested.
Discussion
In the presence of taurolidine, the TTP was considerably delayed or vials even remained negative as compared to vials containing heparin, citrate or NaCl. This effect was dose-dependent. The delayed TTP was much less pronounced in the presence of blood, but still notable.
Conclusion
This study stresses the clinical importance of discarding TLs from the CVC before obtaining a blood culture.
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