A study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases examined the cost-effectiveness of antimicrobial locks for the prevention of central line-associated bloodstream infections.
Antibiotic lock therapy is a method for sterilizing the catheter lumen, according to a guideline from Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Hospital and Clinics.
For the current study, researchers created a decision-analytic model that they used to compare antimicrobial lock solutions to heparin locks in three settings: hemodialysis, cancer treatment and home parenteral nutrition.
Researchers found at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $50,000, antimicrobial lock solutions had a 96.24 percent chance of being cost-effective in the hemodialysis setting; an 88 percent chance in the cancer treatment setting; and a 92.73 percent chance in the home parenteral nutrition setting, when compared to heparin locks.
The study shows antimicrobial lock solutions resulted in savings of $68,721.03 for the hemodialysis setting, $85,061.41 for the cancer setting and $78,513.83 for the home parenteral nutrition setting for each CLABSI case prevented.