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JAC Advance Access published online on February 5, 2007
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, doi:10.1093/jac/dkl542
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Treatment of Staphylococcus epidermidis central vascular catheter infection with 70% ethanol locks: efficacy in a sheep model

Stephen T. Chambers1,2,*, Alan Pithie2, Katrina Gallagher2, Tina Liu2, Christopher J. Charles3 and Lois Seaward4

1 Department of Pathology, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, New Zealand 2 Department of Infectious Diseases, Christchurch Hospital Private Bag 4710, Christchurch, New Zealand, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, New Zealand 3 Department of Medicine, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, New Zealand 4 Department of Microbiology, Canterbury Health Laboratories, Christchurch Hospital Private Bag 4710, Christchurch, New Zealand

Received 17 October 2006; returned 20 November 2006; revised 23 November 2006; accepted 15 December 2006

* Corresponding author. Tel: 00-64-3-3640951; Fax: 00-64-3-3640951; E-mail: steve.chambers{at}cdhb.govt.nz

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a single treatment with ethanol/water (70:30) will sterilize infected vascular catheters.

METHODS: A double-blinded, block-randomized trial was conducted in a sheep model comparing the efficacy of one 3 h treatment with ethanol/water (70:30) with heparinized saline for treatment of Hickman vascular catheters infected with Staphylococcus epidermidis. Catheters were cultured using endoluminal brushes, blood cultures, roll plates of catheter tip, broth flushed through the catheter and hub swabs.

RESULTS: There were significantly more sterile catheters in the ethanol treatment group than the saline treatment group (9/11 versus 0/11, P < 0.01, McNemar's {chi}2 test). The median number of positive cultures in the ethanol treatment group was less than in the saline treatment group (0 versus 5, P = 0.009, Wilcoxon signed-rank test).

CONCLUSIONS: A single treatment of 70% ethanol is effective and clinical trials are warranted for treatment of infected vascular catheters using this regimen.

Key Words: alcohol , Hickman catheters , lumen infections , in vivo


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J. Sanders, A. Pithie, P. Ganly, L. Surgenor, R. Wilson, E. Merriman, G. Loudon, R. Judkins, and S. Chambers
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