Reducing external drainage-related cerebrospinal fluid infections through implementation of a multidisciplinary protocol: experience in a paediatric hospital

Abstract

Objective: To assess the frequency of external cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drain-related CNS infections before and after implementation of a protocol for their prevention.

Design: Quasi-experimental study, with comparison of incidence before and after the implementation of the intervention.

Setting and participants: Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome, Italy. Children receiving an external cerebrospinal fluid drain from 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2015.

Main outcome measures: Drain-related infections.

Results: Fifty-two patients were included in the study. Before protocol implementation, cumulative incidence was 14 per 100 drains. Incidence rate was 8/1,000 catheter-days. After protocol implementation, cumulative incidence and incidence rate were 6.7 per 100 drains and 4.6 per 1,000 catheter-days (p=0.61 and p=0.2 versus the pre-intervention period, respectively). Infected patients were significantly younger (median age: 16.5 days vs 13.4 months; p=0.026), had a significantly higher number of procedures (5 vs 1 procedure per patient; p <0.0001) and were most frequently affected by post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus of premature newborns (50% vs 16.7%; p=0.039), compared to non-infected patients.

Conclusions: After protocol implementation, we observed a reduction of incidence of CSF drain-related infections, though the short post-intervention period limited the power of the study to detect a significant difference. Patients <1 year of age, with multiple interventions and post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus had higher risk of CSF drain-related infections.