Is the Rate of Resolution of Bacteraemia in Patients Dialysing with Lines Dependent on the Type of Organism Isolated?

Background: Infection is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients on haemodialysis (HD). The majority of bacteraemias are related to the vascular access, with a greater incidence in patients dialysing through lines. We looked at our dialysis cohort to see whether the rate of resolution of the bacteraemia in patients dialysing with lines was dependent on the type of organism isolated. Methods: Retrospective review of patients on HD who had bacteraemias between 2020 to 2022. Data collected included blood culture results, time to negativity, and organisms isolated. Patients were split into: group A (GA) – those where cultures became negative within 5 days, and group B (GB), those with negative cultures after > 5 days. Results: Complete data were available in 111 episodes of bacteraemia in 84 patients. 45 were male. Time to negative blood culture was 1 to 26 days. GA had 69 patients with negative cultures within 5 days, and GB, 41 with negative cultures >5 days. In GA, 48 (69%) were Gram positive organisms, 46 (95.8%), were staphylococci, of which 60% were coagulase negative, and 20 (29%) were Gram negative. In GB, 24 (58.5%) were Gram positive organisms, all were staphylococci, of which 67% were coagulase negative, and 17 (41%) were Gram negative. The percentage of patients in both groups was similar over the 3 years (figure 1). Conclusion: We did not find a significant difference in the types of organisms causing the bacteraemia and the time to resolution, but there was a suggestion that patients with Gram negative bacteraemias may take a bit longer to resolve.