Must a patient have a central line insitu continuously for 48 hours to be included in the ICU data collection?
A patient is required to have had a vascular access device that terminated at or close to the heart or in one of the great vessels within the 48-hour period before the development of the bloodstream infection. If the time interval (between line removal and the positive blood culture) was longer than 48 hours, there must be compelling evidence that the infection was related to the vascular access device. i.e. The patient is only required to have a central line in at any time in the 48 hours preceding the presentation of the bloodstream infection.
