A prospective comparison of arterial catheter blood and catheter-tip cultures in critically ill patients

To determine if a culture of blood obtained through an arterial catheter reflects culture of the catheterʼs tip, we studied 68 arterial catheters removed from 65 patients with and without suspected catheter infections. Cultures of blood obtained before catheter removal were compared to catheter-tip cultures. The arterial catheter blood culture was neither sensitive nor highly predictive of positive catheter-tip cultures. Suspicion of catheter infection was not associated with a significantly higher rate of positive catheter-tip or blood cultures.