J Korean Pain Soc.  1991 Jun;4(1):26-30.

Bacteriological Culture of Indwelling Epidural Catheters

• Yoon DM
• Lee YW
• Oh HK

Abstract

Continuous epidural analgesia is widely used in pain management. We investigates the incidence of contamination of epidural catheters used in epidural catheters for pain control. The tips of epidural catheters were examined for bacterial growth after use. In culture from 250 patients undergoing continuous epidural catheterization, 33 (l3.2%) catheters were found to be contaminated: staphylococcus epidermis 66.9%; staphylococcus aureus l2.1%; alpha streptococcus l2.1%; and others 9.l%. One significant epidural infection occured. One of the most common causes of the epidural infection during long time epidural block is the transmission of the microorganism from the contaminated skin to the epidural space along the epidural catheter. To prevent epidural infection, sterilization of the skin around the epidural catheter is essentiaL.

MeSH Terms

Analgesia, Epidural
Catheterization
Catheters*
Epidermis
Epidural Space
Humans
Incidence
Pain Management
Skin
Staphylococcus
Staphylococcus aureus
Sterilization
Streptococcus