Antibiotic-lock technique is an effective treatment of bacterial catheter-related sepsis during parenteral nutrition.

Catheter-related sepsis is one of the most frequent and troublesome complications of parenteral nutrition. In a 2-year survey of 19 home parenteral nutrition patients, with a total of 25.2 years of cyclic nocturnal parenteral nutrition, the annual incidence of catheter-related sepsis was 1.27, of which 84% were due to bacterial catheter infection without any cutaneous focus. These 27 episodes were treated by a daily, 2 ml injection of antibiotic-saline solution, mainly amikacin, locked for 12 h per day within the infected catheter for 15 (7-20) days. On admission the parenteral nutrition was halted for 2 days and the catheter hub was changed. In 7 cases, an average of 3 days (2-5) of systemic antibiotic therapy was given in addition to the 2-week antibiotic-lock. Control of catheter-sepsis was achieved in 93% of the 27 episodes and parenteral nutrition was resumed using the same catheter with only one episode of recurrent sepsis. The present data confirm our preliminary report of the efficacy of the antibiotic-lock technique for the control of bacterial catheter-related sepsis. This treatment offers the advantage over current therapies of avoiding repeated catheter change and 2-6 weeks of systemic antibiotic therapy.