A prospective randomized trial evaluating prophylactic antibiotics to prevent triple-lumen catheter-related sepsis in patients treated with immunotherapy.

During a 15-month period, 92 patients undergoing 129 treatment episodes of immunotherapy with interleukin-2 (IL-2) alone or with immune cells underwent insertion of central venous catheters (CVCs) in the Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute. Before each catheter insertion patients were prospectively randomized into one of three treatment groups; therapy with intravenous (IV) placebo using D5W, IV oxacillin, or change of the catheter to a new site every 72 hours. The mean duration of catheterization was 3.8 +/- 1.1 days. No patient in the oxacillin arm developed catheter-related sepsis, while eight patients in the control arms (five, line change, three, placebo) developed catheter-related sepsis (P2 = .050). Seven episodes of catheter-related sepsis were due to Staphylococcus aureus and one was due to Staphylococcus epidermidis. Catheter colonization was reduced significantly in the oxacillin arm versus control arms (P = .0001). Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and other coagulase-negative Staphylococci were sensitive to oxacillin in 89%, 60%, and 50% of cultures, respectively. No evidence of bacterial overgrowth, candida colonization, or candidemia was observed in these patients. Thus this trial demonstrates that treatment with prophylactic oxacillin can decrease the incidence of catheter-related sepsis in patients undergoing immunotherapy with interleukin-2 (IL-2). To our knowledge this is the first prospective randomized trial to evaluate the prophylactic use of systemic antibiotics in the prophylaxis of CVC sepsis.