Background: This case report describes our preliminary data on the use of taurolidine as a lock technique. Taurolidine is a novel antimicrobial agent that has found a niche in Europe for prevention of bacteremia in home parenteral nutrition (HPN) patients who have multiple catheter-related blood-stream infections.
Methods: A 29-year-old male with short bowel syndrome was admitted 18 times in 9 years for treatment of Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and yeast-associated catheter-related bloodstream infections. Management consisted of conventional antibiotic treatment in accordance with blood culture and sensitivity results as well as catheter removal in 10 cases. Ten months before the last infection, the patient was instructed to instil 1.5 mL taurolidine 2% daily into his central line after finishing his HPN infusion and has continued to do so 2 years to date.
Results: The incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections decreased from 8.5 to 1.5 infections per 1000 catheter days.
Conclusions: These data support previous observations made outside North America and suggest that taurolidine may prove to be an effective and safe antimicrobial agent for the prevention of recurrent catheter-related bloodstream infections.