The attributable cost, length of hospital stay, and mortality of central line-associated bloodstream infection in intensive care departments in Argentina: A prospective, matched analysis.

BACKGROUND Limited information is available on the financial impact of central venous catheter-associated bloodstream infection (BSI) in Argentina. To calculate the cost of BSIs in the intensive care department (ICU), a 5-year prospective nested case-control study was undertaken at 3 hospitals in Argentina. METHODS We studied 6 adult ICUs from 3 hospitals. In all, 142 patients with BSI and 142 control patients without BSI were matched for hospital, type of ICU, year of admission, length of stay, sex, age, and average severity of illness score. Patients' length of stay in the ICU was obtained prospectively on daily rounds. The hospitals' finance departments provided the cost of each ICU day. The hospitals' pharmacies provided the cost of antibiotics prescribed for BSIs. RESULTS The mean extra length of stay for patients with BSI compared with control patients was 11.9 days, the mean extra antibiotic defined daily dose was 22.6, the mean extra antibiotic cost was $1913, the mean extra cost was $4888.42, and the excess mortality was 24.6%. CONCLUSIONS In this study, patients with central venous catheter-associated BSI experienced significant prolongation of hospitalization, increased use of health care costs, and a higher attributable mortality. These findings support the need to implement preventative interventions for patients hospitalized with central venous catheters in Argentina.