Comparison of the duration of antimicrobial activity of 2 different antimicrobial central venous catheters

We compared the duration of antimicrobial effectiveness of 2 different antimicrobial catheters. The baseline activity of minocyclinerifampin catheters was greater than that of silver-platinum-carbon catheters against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Enterococcus faecalis. The antimicrobial activity of the minocycline-rifampin catheters against these pathogens persisted for up to 12 days, while that of the silver-platinum-carbon catheters was depleted by day 10 ( ). P ! .05 Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2010; 31:295-297 Catheter-related bloodstream infections (BSIs) are the most common type of healthcare-associated BSIs in the United States and are associated with profound morbidity and cost. 1 The use of antimicrobial catheters reduces the incidence of substantial catheter colonization and catheter-related BSI. 2,3 There are 3 types of antimicrobial catheters commercially available in the United States: (1) the chlorhexidine-silversulfadiazine catheter, (2) the silver-platinum-carbon catheter, and (3) the minocycline-rifampin catheter. Studies 2,4 have compared the efficacy of one catheter over another in terms of preventing substantial catheter colonization and catheterrelated BSI, but few studies have made this comparison between the minocycline-rifampin catheter and the silver-platinum-carbon catheter. 4 Furthermore, to our knowledge no study has compared the effect of catheters impregnated with minocycline-rifampin with the effect of silver-platinum-carbon catheters on the duration of antimicrobial activity. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the ex vivo antimicrobial durability of these catheters after removal from patients in the intensive care unit.