Central Venous Catheter Site Care for Blood and Marrow Transplant Recipients

Treatment-induced neutropenia, long central venous catheter (CVC) dwell times, and the use of immunosuppressive agents place blood and marrow transplant recipients at high risk for CVC infection. The most common causative organisms of CVC infection are ubiquitous skin flora of hospitalized patients. A great deal of research on CVC care, including dressing change procedures and frequency, has been conducted; however, variations in study design, patients studied, and terminology used to define CVC infection limit the generalizability of the findings. This article reviews significant studies of CVC care and infection rates and describes the findings of a survey of CVC care practices of Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Special Interest Group members of the Oncology Nursing Society.