Effect of a vascular access team on central line-associated bloodstream infections in infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit: a systematic review.

Objective: To review the effect of a vascular access team on the incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections in infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Web-of-Science and the Cochrane Library were searched until December 2013.

Study Selection: Studies that evaluated the implementation of a vascular access team, and focused on the incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections in infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, were selected.

Data Extraction: Incidence rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections were extracted, as well as information on vascular access team tasks and team composition. The quality of studies was critically appraised using the McMaster tool for quantitative studies.

Data Synthesis: Seven studies involving 136 to 414 participants were included. In general, the implementation of a vascular access team coincided with the implementation of concurrent interventions. All vascular access teams included nurses, and occasionally included physicians. Main tasks included insertion and maintenance of central lines. In all studies, a relative decrease of 45-79% in central line-associated bloodstream infections was reported.

Conclusions: A vascular access team is a promising intervention to decrease central line-associated bloodstream infections in infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit. However, level of evidence for effectiveness is low. Future research is required to improve the strength of evidence for vascular access teams.