Potentially fatal catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) are currently at about 250,000 annually.  In response, the first-ever antibiotic-impregnated peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC), the Spectrum Turbo-Ject PICC by Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN, has been introduced.

Demand for the new PICC is high. So much so that the first units were shipped to customers before Cook’s official introduction of the device to key customers at the Society of Interventional Radiology Meeting earlier this year in San Diego.
With the Spectrum Turbo-Ject PICC, clinicians can choose from multiple catheter configurations that offer an industry-best range of flow rates in order to meet patient needs, including:

• Maximum pressure limit settings of 325 psi
• 5 French single and double lumen with a maximum flow rate of 7 and 5 mL/second, respectively
• 4 French single lumen with a maximum flow rate of 4 mL/second
• 50 cm and 60 cm length available

In the United States alone, more than 3 million central venous catheters (CVC) are inserted annually, with more than 250,000 patients developing a CRBSI associated with their CVC. Additionally, about 30,000 U.S. patients die each year from these systemic infections. Cost associated with treating these preventable infections average $34,508 to $56,000 each, making CRBSI prevention a major health care cost reduction issue. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine discusses the efficacy of Spectrum technology, shown to establish zones of inhibition greater than 15 mm for up to 63 days against the leading cause of CRBSIs.

Cook Spectrum catheters are impregnated with the antibiotics minocycline and rifampin, which work synergistically to provide broad-spectrum protection against gram positive, gram negative and fungal organisms in both short- and long-term use. This combination has the ability to penetrate the biofilm that forms on all indwelling catheters. Research also shows, according to Cook, that the Spectrum technology does not promote the growth of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in patients receiving Spectrum catheters.