Antimicrobial chlorhexidine/silver sulfadiazine-coated central venous catheters versus those uncoated in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Introduction Only a minimum is known about clinical effect of antimicrobial-coated central venous catheters (CVC) in stem cell transplantation settings, where CVC-related infections impose major threat to severely immunocompromised patients. Materials and methods In this prospective, non-sponsored and nonrandomized study, there were 49 uncoated multi-lumen and non-tunneled CVCs and 58 antimicrobial chlorhexidine/silver sulfadiazine-coated CVCs inserted in allogeneic stem cell transplanted patients to facilitate treatment during conditioning and pre-engraftment phase (