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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2009, p. 2950-2951, Vol. 47, No. 9
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00292-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Discarding the Initial Aliquot of Blood Does Not Reduce Contamination Rates in Intravenous-Catheter-Drawn Blood Cultures {triangledown}

Sukrut Dwivedi,1 Rohit Bhalla,1 Donald R. Hoover,1,3 and Melvin P. Weinstein1,2*

Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy & Immunology, Departments of Medicine,1 Pathology, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey,2 Department of Statistics and Biostatistics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey3

Received 9 February 2009/ Returned for modification 28 March 2009/ Accepted 21 July 2009

Although venipuncture is the preferred method for obtaining blood cultures, specimens often are obtained from intravenous catheters (IVC). For IVC-drawn blood cultures, some authorities recommend discarding the initial 5 to 10 ml of blood to reduce contamination and remove potential inhibitory substances. To determine whether this practice reduced contamination rates (CR), we assessed the results of IVC-drawn blood cultures for adults. Thirty milliliters of blood was obtained aseptically. The first 10 ml, rather than being discarded, was inoculated into an aerobic culture vial. Using a second sterile syringe, 20 ml of blood was obtained and inoculated in 10-ml aliquots to aerobic and anaerobic culture vials. Positive cultures were evaluated to assess clinical significance (true versus contaminant). Out of 653 IVC-drawn blood culture pairs, both vials were contaminated in 38 pairs (5.8%); only the "discard" vial was contaminated in 33 (5.1%); and only the "standard" vial was contaminated in 31 (4.7%). Overall CR were 10.9% for the discard vial versus 10.5% for the standard vial (P = 0.90). We conclude that discarding an initial aliquot of blood when obtaining blood cultures from IVCs does not reduce CR.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy & Immunology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-0019. Phone: (732) 235-7713. Fax: (732) 235-7951. E-mail: weinstei{at}umdnj.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 29 July 2009.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2009, p. 2950-2951, Vol. 47, No. 9
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00292-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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