A comparative study on the effect of three agents of alcohol, chlorhexidine and alcohol-chlorhexidine on the rate of local catheter-related infections: A double-blind clinical trial

Introduction & Aim: Although it is vital to prevent catheter-related infections (CRIs) as the most common cause of hospital infections, there is still no agreement on the best antiseptic agent. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare the effects of chlorhexidine, alcohol, and alcohol-chlorhexidine solutions on local CRIs in patients admitted to the CCU wards of Zahedan Medical Sciences Hospitals. Methods: This randomized double-blind clinical trial was performed on 150 patients admitted to the CCU wards of the Zahedan Medical Sciences Hospitals in 2017. The subjects were selected using convenience sapling method and randomly divided into three groups (N=50), including groups A (alcohol), B(chlorhexidine), and C (alcohol-chlorhexidine). The injection site was disinfected with 70% alcohol, chlorhexidine solution, chlorhexidine-alcohol solution in Groups A, B, and C at a radius of 5 cm from the center. The data collection tool was the result of the culture test. After removing the catheter from the vessel, the tip was separated with a scissor and transferred to the culture medium under sterile conditions. It was then sent to the laboratory for microbiological evaluation and the results of the culture were compared. In case of growth of more than 15 colonies in each plate, the colony was considered to be positive. Patients and laboratory experts who reviewed and reported the results of the culture were blind to the allocation of samples in the studied groups. Statistical analysis was then perform carried out using chisquare test and Fisher s exact test in SPSS ver. 16.Findings: The results of statistical analysis showed significant difference between the three groups in terms of the infection rate (A: 20%, B: 22%, and C: 4%, and P: 0.024). There was a significant difference between chlorhexidine and alcohol-chlorhexidine groups (P: 0.007), as well as alcohol and alcohol-chlorhexidine groups in this regard (P: 0.014). The prevalence of infection was significantly lower in the alcoholchlorhexidine group than the alcohol and chlorhexidine groups. Discussion and Conclusion: Since the findings of the present research showed that skin cleansing with alcohol-chlorhexidine solution compared to alcohol or chlorhexidine could more effectively reduce the local infection, it is recommended to use this formulation for disinfection of the intravenous catheterization site.

کلیدواژه ها:

Disinfection solution ، Local catheter-related infection ، Peripheral venous catheterization ، Alcohol ، Chlorhexidine ، Hospital infection