THE EFFECT OF ULTRASOUND GUIDANCE ON CENTRAL VENOUS CATHETER-ASSOCIATED BLOODSTREAM INFECTION IN CRITICAL CARE PATIENTS

Background and aims: The central venous catheterization can be performed according to anatomical references points or by using ultrasound guidance. In this study, our aim was to perform a comparison between the application of these two methods for internal vein catheterization, especially with regards to the incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections. Materials and methods: 97 critical care patients who underwent real-time USG-guided cannulation (Grup 1) of the internal jugular vein were prospectively compared with 97 critical care patients in whom the landmark technique (Grup 2) was used. The parameters studied included average access time, time for insertion, attempts required, mechanical complications and catheter-related bloodstream infections. Results: There was no difference between the two groups with regards to demographic data (p>0.05). The mean skin-vein period, the total period of insertion, the number of attempts, the rate of mechanical complications, and the incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections were significantly lower in Group 1 in comparison to Group 2 (p<0.0.5). Conclusions: USG-guided internal jugular vein catheterization reduced the number of attempts, and was more advantageous than the conventional method in terms of allowing a lower incidence of mechanical complications and catheter-related bloodstream infections.