Primary studies and systematic reviews evaluating chlorhexidine-containing antiseptics for the prevention of intravascular catheter-associated infections.

ACs, arterial catheters; ALC, alcohol (when alcohol type not known); aq, aqueous; BAK, benzalkonium chloride; BALC, benzyl alcohol; CHG, chlorhexidine gluconate; CR-BSI, catheter-related bloodstream infection; CVCs, central venous catheters; ETH, ethanol; IPA, isopropanol; ND, not determined; PICCs, peripherally inserted central venous catheters; PVCs, peripheral venous catheters; PVI, povidone iodine; RCT, randomised clinical trial; seq, sequential application; vs, versus; ?%, percentage not specified.
aAnnotation with (C) or (R) denotes whether original studies were included in the systematic reviews of Chaiyakunapruk et al [46] (C) or Rickard and Ray-Barruel [47] (R).
bMention of insertion and maintenance refers to whether the assigned study antiseptic was used prior to catheter insertion only, or both, for insertion and maintenance.
cA, B, and C denote different study arms.
dOutcome: number of catheters colonised or CR-BSIs per catheters inserted in each study arm. Significance is indicated either by NS (not significant) or p<0.05 (when significant).
eAttribution: assesses whether study outcomes derived from alcohol plus CHG were attributed to CHG alone by authors.
fThese studies were classified as non-randomised cluster cross-over trials. They had been conducted by prospective sequential implementation of different antiseptic regimens in clinical units.