Ethanol Lock and Risk of Catheter Related Blood Stream Infection in Patients With Haemodialysis Catheter

Ethanol Lock and Risk of Catheter Related Blood Stream Infection in Patients With Haemodialysis Catheter

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of ethanol (70%) as lock-solution after hemodialysis on:

• The frequency of dialysis catheter-related bacteremia among patients under observation of potential complications
• Other complications of the use of hemodialysis-catheters eg. dysfunction of the catheter due to thrombosis.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age at or above 18 years.
• Currently recieving hemodialysis treatment with tunneled intravenous hemodialysis-catheter
• Written informed consent after verbal and written information is given.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• Intolerance to ethanol or contraindications for the use of ethanol. Eg. possible interactions, former alcohol dependency.
• Earlier infections to current catheter (exit-site, tunnel-infection and catheter-related bloodstream infection