ICU Central Line: Hospitals Slow to Adopt Infection Prevention Program

November 5, 2010

Doctors insert into patients what is called a central line, which can be used to administer vital medications while monitoring various critical elements within the heart and blood.

But a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate shows that 250,000 patients with central lines contract blood stream infections every year, and more than 10 percent die as a result. The study, conducted in 2002, is the CDC’s most current figure. (ABC News)