CLABSI: Central Line-Associated Blood Stream Infection

Why We Want to Prevent CLABSI

CLABSI is a bloodstream infection that occurs in a patient with a central line that is placed within a 48 hour period before the onset of infection. CLABSI is affiliated with high morbidity and mortality rates as well as expensive healthcare costs.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 48 percent of patients in the Intensive Care Unit have central venous catheters, equaling 15 million central lines per day in ICUs in the United States. About 28,000 patients die from CLABSI each year in the U.S. CLABSIs extends a patient’s hospital stay by an average of seven days. Studies show that these infections are mostly preventable when healthcare systems use evidence-based practices.