Infection rates associated with epidural indwelling catheters for seven days or longer: systematic review and meta-analysis

2007

Infection Rates with Long-term Epidural Catheters

Sample size: 4628 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Ruppen Wilhelm, Derry Sheena, McQuay Henry J, Moore R Andrew

Primary Institution: Department of Anaesthetics, University Hospital of Basel

What are the infection rates associated with epidural catheters in place for seven days or longer?

One in 35 cancer patients with an epidural catheter for 74 days can expect a deep infection, and about 1 in 500 may die from it.

There were 257 catheter-related infections in total, with rates of 6.1%, 4.6%, and 1.2% for any, superficial, and deep infections respectively.
The incidence of deep infection was 1 per 2391 days of treatment.
Four of 57 patients with deep infection died.

If you have a tube in your back for pain relief for a long time, there's a chance you could get an infection, especially if you have cancer.

Systematic review and pooled analysis of observational studies.

Potential under-reporting of serious adverse events.

The small number of deep infections limits the reliability of the estimates.

Predominantly cancer patients with an average catheter duration of 74 days.

95% CI 0.91 to 1.6

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