Why the study?
Does the reuse of pacing catheters increase superficial skin infections or bacteremia in patients undergoing electrophysiologic studies compared to single use?
Does the reuse of pacing catheters increase superficial skin infections or bacteremia in patients undergoing electrophysiologic studies compared to single use?
Survey data from 12 medical centers suggests that resterilization and reuse of pacing catheters during EP studies is safe and does not increase infection risk.
Supports low infection risk with reused catheters in EP studies; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change single-use practice.
We surveyed 12 medical centers with regard to the reuse of pacing catheters during electrophysiologic studies. The prevalence of superficial skin infections or bacteremia related to EP studies was extremely low, and was not significantly different in the catheter reuse group compared to the single use group. We conclude that catheter resterilization and reuse is safe and cost-effective.
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O’Donoghue et al. (1988) studied this question.
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