Usefulness of gram staining of blood collected from total parenteral nutrition catheter for rapid diagnosis of catheter-related sepsis

Abstract

The accuracy of Gram staining of blood drawn from catheters used to administer total parenteral nutrition was compared with paired quantitative blood cultures for the diagnosis of catheter-related sepsis. Gram staining was positive in 11 of 18 episodes of catheter-related sepsis documented by quantitative culture (sensitivity, 61%) but in none of the 5 episodes of fever unrelated to catheter infection. Thus, this procedure enabled the rapid presumptive diagnosis and guidance of antimicrobial therapy for total parenteral nutrition catheter sepsis, with a positive predictive value of 100% and a negative predictive value of 42%.