Treatment of the afebrile patient after catheter withdrawal: drugs and duration

Catheter-related infections constitute 10–15% of all nosocomial infections, and constitute a relevant and growing problem, with an impact that is far from irrelevant, especially in the intensive care unit. The most frequent pathogens implicated come from the skin flora; Gram-positive cocci are responsible for about two-thirds of the infections, and Candida has emerged as another important cause. Questions about drug, route of administration, dosage and duration of antibiotherapy for patients who have become apyretic and with no signs of sepsis after catheter removal are still under debate, and far from being definitively answered. Decisions regarding these questions are based on three main factors: namely, which is the microoorganism responsible for the infection, what was the time to response, and what kind of patient are we dealing with? However, the microorganism is clearly the main factor in making a decision. In summary, all catheter-related infections should be treated with appropriate antibiotics, regardless of the removal of the catheter, with parenteral drugs, using high doses and short courses, namely 1 week, and de-escalating to narrow-spectrum drugs on the basis of susceptibility tests as soon as possible. Staphylococcus aureus catheter-related infections constitute an exception, needing longer courses, as it is difficult to predict who will be high-risk patients.