Central venous catheter replacement with the aid of wire introducer in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition: short report.

During a 1-year period, 24 of 71 patients receiving total parenteral nutrition, underwent replacement of their central venous catheter (CVC) for presumed CVC sepsis or catheter malposition with the use of a wire inducer, according to the Seldinger technique. Catheters were defined as sterile when cultures of both the catheter tip and the peripheral blood were negative, contaminated when culture of the tip was positive whereas the peripheral blood culture(s) was either sterile or positive with different bacteria than those obtained from the tip culture, and septic when cultures from the catheter tip and peripheral blood grew identical microorganisms. Among 19 catheters with suspected sepsis, six were sterile, ten contaminated and three septic. Guidewire catheter replacement was easily and safely performed, and succeeded in sterilizing all contaminated catheters but only one of three septic catheters.