Cook Spectrum v. Arrow Arrowguard Blue
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Cook's central venous catheter impregnated with minocycline and rifampin had one-third the infection rate of Arrow International's catheter impregnated with chlorhexidine and silver sulfadiazine, according to an 817-patient, 12-site study published in the Jan. 7 New England Journal of Medicine. Of the 865 catheters placed into 817 patients, 85% (738) produced culture results that could be evaluated, of which 356 were Cook's and 382 were Arrow's. Twenty-eight of 356 (7.9%) of Spectrum catheters were colonized, versus colonization in 87 of 382 (22.8%) Arrowguard Blue catheters. Fourteen patients also had catheter-related bloodstream infections, of which 3.4% (13) had Arrow devices and 0.3% (1) had a Cook device