Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

National Estimates of Central Line–Associated Bloodstream Infections in Critical Care Patients

There were between 462,000 and 636,000 CLABSIs in nonneonatal critical care patients in the United States during 1990–2010. CLABSI rate reductions led to between 104,000 and 198,000 fewer CLABSIs than would have occurred if rates had remained unchanged since 1990. There were 15,000 hospital-onset CLABSIs in nonneonatal critical care patients in 2010; 70 percent occurred in medium and large teaching hospitals.

Substantial progress has been made in reducing the occurrence of CLABSIs in US critical care patients over the past two decades. The concentration of critical care CLABSIs in medium and large teaching hospitals suggests that a targeted approach may be warranted to continue achieving reductions in critical care CLABSIs nationally.