Alcohol Locks for the Prevention of Tunneled Catheter-related Infections

Bacteremia Clinical Trial

Official title:

Short Daily Alcohol Locks for the Prevention of Tunneled Catheter Infection in Patients With Haematological Disease. Randomised Placebo Controlled Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00122642
• Other study ID #: AL-01
• Secondary ID: SNO-T-07-57
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2/Phase 3
• First received: July 19, 2005
• Last updated: September 24, 2009
• Start date: August 2005
• Est. completion date: September 2009

Study information

• Verified date: September 2009
• Source: Erasmus Medical Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Netherlands: The Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CCMO)
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

In modern-day medicine, the use of central venous catheters has become unavoidable. However, their use does not come without risk. It puts patients in danger of infectious complications (catheter-related infections [CRI]), the most important of which is catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI). CRBSI is associated with a significant increase in hospital stay and, therefore, cost of patient management, morbidity, and probably also mortality. There still is an urgent need for effective, cheap and easy to implement measures to prevent CRI that are without risk of developing antibiotic resistance.

During use, bacteria can colonize the inner surface of the catheter. This endoluminal route of infection can be prevented to some extent when an antibiotic solution is instilled in the catheter for a long enough time and on a regular basis. However, to avoid resistance from occurring, the use of antibiotics for infection prevention should remain exceptional.

The use of a non-toxic antiseptic might be a better alternative. Recently, the use of an alcohol lock solution was suggested as a promising way to prevent CRBSI and the compatibility of polyurethane and silicone catheters submerged in an alcohol solution was publicized with no biomechanical or structural changes detected after 9 weeks of immersion. The major advantage of an alcohol lock solution would be the broad antimicrobial spectrum without the risk of compromising future antibiotic treatment as, in contrast to the use of an antibiotic lock, the development of antibiotic resistance is not of concern. Furthermore it would be cheap and universally available.

In this randomised study, the efficacy of a 70% alcohol lock solution for the prevention of CRBSI will be compared with placebo when applied for 15 minutes per day.

Description:

In modern-day medicine, the use of intravascular catheters has become unavoidable. In the United States, hospitals and clinics purchase more than 150 million intravascular devices each year of which more than 5 million are central venous catheters. However, their use does not come without risk. It puts patients in danger of mechanical, thrombotic and infectious complications (catheter-related infections [CRI]), the most important of which is catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI). CRBSI is associated with a significant increase in hospital stay and, therefore, cost of patient management, morbidity and probably also mortality. The increase in expenses was estimated to be 15,965 US dollars per patient with a CRBSI in 1994 and even 56,167 US dollars in another more recent study.

It is clear that the prevention of CRI is of utmost importance and will help to decrease patient suffering as well as cost of patient management. Extensive and detailed evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of CRI were recently published. However, many topics remain unresolved and there still is an urgent need for effective, cheap and easy to implement preventive measures that are without risk of developing antibiotic resistance.

Catheters can become colonized with microorganisms through exoluminal (catheter insertion site) or endoluminal (hub and infusates) routes. It has been shown that, the longer a catheter remains in place, the more important the endoluminal route becomes. The endoluminal route of infection can be prevented to some extent when an antibiotic solution is instilled in the catheter for a long enough time and on a regular basis. However, to avoid resistance from occurring, the use of antibiotics in such a lock for infection prevention should remain exceptional. Although there is evidence to support the concept, methodologically appropriate clinical data on the use of antiseptic solutions for this purpose are still awaited.

Recently, the use of an alcohol lock solution was suggested as a promising way to prevent CRBSI and the compatibility of polyurethane and silicone catheters submerged in an alcohol solution was publicized with no biomechanical or structural changes detected after 9 weeks of immersion. The major advantage of an alcohol lock solution would be the broad antimicrobial spectrum without the risk of compromising future antibiotic treatment as, in contrast to the use of an antibiotic lock, the development of antibiotic resistance is not of concern. Furthermore it would be cheap and universally available.

In this randomised study the efficacy of a 70% alcohol lock solution for the prevention of CRBSI will be compared with placebo when applied for 15 minutes per day.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 440
• Est. completion date: September 2009
• Est. primary completion date: June 2009
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient at least 18 years old

• Admitted to the haematology department

• Had a tunnelled central venous catheter inserted in the preceding 72 hours

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known allergy to alcohol or active use of metronidazole (or related 2-nitroimidazole compounds) or disulfiram (Antabuse)

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Prevention

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Bacteremia
• Catheter-Related Infections

Intervention

Procedure:
• Alcohol-lock
The intervention is the instillation of ethanol 70% solution in the catheter lumen (or lumina) for 15minutes per day during hospital stay and for 15minutes per week for patients not in the hospital.

Drug:
• placebo-lock
The intervention is the instillation of placebo solution in the catheter lumen (or lumina) for 15minutes per day during hospital stay and for 15minutes per week for patients not in the hospital.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Netherlands	Erasmus Medical Center	Rotterdam

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Erasmus Medical Center	Stichting Nuts Ohra

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Netherlands, 

References & Publications (15)

A.Aiyangar, W.C.Crone, C.J.Crnich DGM. Effect of Ethanol on the Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Catheters. Proceedings of the 2002 SEM Annual Conference and Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics . 2002.

Allon M. Prophylaxis against dialysis catheter-related bacteremia with a novel antimicrobial lock solution. Clin Infect Dis. 2003 Jun 15;36(12):1539-44. Epub 2003 Jun 6. — View Citation

Carratalà J, Niubó J, Fernández-Sevilla A, Juvé E, Castellsagué X, Berlanga J, Liñares J, Gudiol F. Randomized, double-blind trial of an antibiotic-lock technique for prevention of gram-positive central venous catheter-related infection in neutropenic patients with cancer. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1999 Sep;43(9):2200-4. — View Citation

Chatzinikolaou I, Zipf TF, Hanna H, Umphrey J, Roberts WM, Sherertz R, Hachem R, Raad I. Minocycline-ethylenediaminetetraacetate lock solution for the prevention of implantable port infections in children with cancer. Clin Infect Dis. 2003 Jan 1;36(1):116-9. Epub 2002 Dec 11. — View Citation

Digiovine B, Chenoweth C, Watts C, Higgins M. The attributable mortality and costs of primary nosocomial bloodstream infections in the intensive care unit. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1999 Sep;160(3):976-81. — View Citation

Dimick JB, Pelz RK, Consunji R, Swoboda SM, Hendrix CW, Lipsett PA. Increased resource use associated with catheter-related bloodstream infection in the surgical intensive care unit. Arch Surg. 2001 Feb;136(2):229-34. — View Citation

Dogra GK, Herson H, Hutchison B, Irish AB, Heath CH, Golledge C, Luxton G, Moody H. Prevention of tunneled hemodialysis catheter-related infections using catheter-restricted filling with gentamicin and citrate: a randomized controlled study. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2002 Aug;13(8):2133-9. — View Citation

Henrickson KJ, Axtell RA, Hoover SM, Kuhn SM, Pritchett J, Kehl SC, Klein JP. Prevention of central venous catheter-related infections and thrombotic events in immunocompromised children by the use of vancomycin/ciprofloxacin/heparin flush solution: A randomized, multicenter, double-blind trial. J Clin Oncol. 2000 Mar;18(6):1269-78. — View Citation

Maki DG, Crnich CJ, Safdar N. Successful use of a 25% Alcohol Lock Solution for Prevention of Recurrent CVC-Related Bloodstream Infection in a patient on Home TNA. 42nd ICAAC Abstracts, American Society for Microbiology, September 27 - 30, 2002, San Diego, CA, page 320 . 2002.

Mermel LA, Farr BM, Sherertz RJ, Raad II, O'Grady N, Harris JS, Craven DE; Infectious Diseases Society of America; American College of Critical Care Medicine; Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Guidelines for the management of intravascular catheter-related infections. Clin Infect Dis. 2001 May 1;32(9):1249-72. Epub 2001 Apr 3. Review. — View Citation

O'Grady NP, Alexander M, Dellinger EP, Gerberding JL, Heard SO, Maki DG, Masur H, McCormick RD, Mermel LA, Pearson ML, Raad II, Randolph A, Weinstein RA. Guidelines for the prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2002 Aug 9;51(RR-10):1-29. — View Citation

Raad I, Costerton W, Sabharwal U, Sacilowski M, Anaissie E, Bodey GP. Ultrastructural analysis of indwelling vascular catheters: a quantitative relationship between luminal colonization and duration of placement. J Infect Dis. 1993 Aug;168(2):400-7. — View Citation

Rello J, Ochagavia A, Sabanes E, Roque M, Mariscal D, Reynaga E, Valles J. Evaluation of outcome of intravenous catheter-related infections in critically ill patients. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2000 Sep;162(3 Pt 1):1027-30. — View Citation

Renaud B, Brun-Buisson C; ICU-Bacteremia Study Group. Outcomes of primary and catheter-related bacteremia. A cohort and case-control study in critically ill patients. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2001 Jun;163(7):1584-90. — View Citation

Schwartz C, Henrickson KJ, Roghmann K, Powell K. Prevention of bacteremia attributed to luminal colonization of tunneled central venous catheters with vancomycin-susceptible organisms. J Clin Oncol. 1990 Sep;8(9):1591-7. — View Citation

* Note: There are 15 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Endoluminal catheter related bacteremia		at time of catheter removal	No
Secondary	All catheter-related bacteremias with differential time to positivity (DTTP) > 2 hours		at time of catheter removal	No
Secondary	Catheter survival time		at time of catheter removal	No
Secondary	Vancomycin and linezolid use		at time of catheter removal	No
Secondary	Incidence of positive catheter tip cultures		at time of catheter removal	No
Secondary	Incidence of bacteremia/fungemia (catheter-related or not)		at time of catheter removal	No