Disinfection of Needleless Connectors to Reduce Staphylococcus aureus Bacterial Load
Compare effectiveness of chemical disinfectants in reducing S. aureus. Five disinfectants reduced the bacterial load, especially chlorhexidine solutions. Focus on Brazilian clinical practice of needleless connector disinfection. This study aimed to gain further knowledge about the comparative effectiveness of chemical disinfectants in reducing the bacterial load of NCs inoculated with S. aureus. Disinfection of needleless connectors was undertaken in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus comparing 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA), 70% ethanol, 0.5% and 2% chlorhexidine in 70% IPA applied with gauze, and 70% IPA single-use cap (Site-Scrub®). All disinfectants reduced the bacterial load (P < 0.001), especially the chlorhexidine solutions. Mechanical friction should follow guidelines. This study found that all tested disinfectants effectively reduced the bacterial load and more clinical studies must be developed with a focus on the Brazilian clinical practice of needleless connector disinfection.Highlights
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Needleless connectors Safeflow®; B. Braun, Brazil.
Multiple comparison graph of bacterial load on needleless connectors between control and disinfection treatments. CHG = chlorhexidine; IPA = isopropyl alcohol; NTC = nontreated control. The white circles represent each individual experiment. The central box represents the values from the lower to upper quartile (25 to 75 percentile). The middle line represents the median. A line extends from the minimum to the maximum value.
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