Observational, retrospective real-world evidence study demonstrates safety, performance and usefulness of antimicrobial central venous catheters

Abstract

Objective To collect real-world data to demonstrate the safety and performance of Arrowg+ard Blue® /Arrowg+ard Blue Plus® (AGB/AGB+) central venous catheters (CVCs). Methods This observational, retrospective study involved patients who required AGB/AGB+ CVCs at designated general hospitals in USA (22), UK (19) and Germany (2). Data were extracted from electronic medical records. There were no specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. Primary endpoint was successful treatment without an adverse event (AE). Secondary endpoint was rate of AEs. Results In total, 384 cases were included from 43 centres and most patients (74%) were >35 years of age. A success rate of 99%, and an overall AE rate of 0.8% were observed. Moreover, the overall infection rate was lower than typically reported for standard catheters. In addition, power injection of contrast media was successful in all 51 cases. Conclusions This study indicates the AGB/AGB+ CVCs perform as intended with a high success rate and few AEs. Further large-scale, controlled studies are required to confirm our findings.