Risk of infectious complications in adult patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation depending on the site of central venous catheter insertion—multicenter prospective observational study, from the IDWP EBMT and Nurses Group of EBMT

The current guidelines for prevention of infections in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) do not specify which central venous catheter (CVC) insertion site should be preferred in allogeneic HSCT recipients—internal jugular vein (IJV) or subclavian vein (SCV). We designed a multicenter prospective observational study comparing the risk of infectious and non-infectious complications between the two most common sites of CVC insertion (IJV and SCV) in allogeneic HSCT. There were in total 232 consecutive patients (86 IJV and 146 SCV) who underwent adult allogeneic HSCT reported from 11 centers in 8 countries. The center independent analysis of central line associated/related blood stream infections with ECDC criteria has shown statistically significant difference favoring SCV (23% IJV vs 13% SCV (OR 2.03 (1.01–4.06), p = 0.047)). The differences in CLABSI per 1000 days of CVC use favored SCV over IJV (7.93/1000 days IJV vs 2.79/1000 days SCV, p = 0.002). The frequency of all non-infectious complications was similar in both arms—13% IJV and 12% SCV (OR 1.1 (0.5–2.5), p = 0.8). This multicenter prospective study showed statistically significant lower confirmed number of CLABSI per 1000 days of CVC use without higher risk of noninfectious complications related to the subclavian insertion site in allogeneic HSCT recipients.