Healthcare-Associated Infections are a major, yet often preventable threat to patient safety. Since they can have a significant impact on the survival rate of patients undergoing medical procedures and treatment, the minimization of such infections is an important focus globally.

While there has been some success in decreasing hospital-acquired infections, they still remain a significant issue. Particularly catheter-associated infections are difficult to prevent due to their inherent positioning both inside and outside the body. 

Catheter tubes are usually made of silicone and although the material is biocompatible and bio-stabile, it is not immune to bacterial colonization. There are some techniques that can reduce bacterial colonization:

• Applying antibiotic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) coatings to silicone catheters by spraying or dipping

• Addition of antibiotic APIs to raw silicone

• Impregnation of vulcanized silicone with antibiotic API through immersion

This whitepaper outlines these three techniques and presents test results proving the effectiveness of the immersion impregnation method in combining an API with silicone tubing to prevent catheter-associated infections.

Download the whitepaper here