Introduction
This report provides health-care practitioners with background information and specific recommendations to reduce the incidence of intravascular catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI). These guidelines replace the Guideline for Prevention of Intravascular Device-Related Infections, which was published in 1996 (1).
The Guidelines for the Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections have been developed for practitioners who insert catheters and for persons who are responsible for surveillance and control of infections in hospital, outpatient,
and home health-care settings. This report was prepared by a working group composed of professionals representing the disciplines of critical care medicine, infectious diseases, health-care infection control, surgery, anesthesiology,
interventional radiology, pulmonary medicine, pediatrics, and nursing. The working group was led by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), in collaboration with Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), Surgical Infection Society (SIS), American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), American Thoracic Society (ATS), American Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (ASCCA), Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), Infusion Nurses Society (INS), Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology (SCVIR), American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The recommendations presented in this report reflect consensus of HICPAC and other professional organizations.
