Impact of Blood Cultures Drawn From Arterial Lines on the Incidence of Contamination, Detection of Bacteremia, and Blood Culture Volume

Taking blood cultures is an important and very common procedure in intensive care units due to the high incidence of sepsis and the need for rapid and accurate identification of bacteremia. However, despite the importance of taking a sufficient volume of blood for the purpose of identifying bacterial growth in the blood, the average blood volume in blood cultures at our institution ranges from 3.5-4 ml per bottle (where the desired volume is 10 ml). Taking an insufficient amount of blood reduces the ability of the bacteriological laboratory to detect bacterial growth and thus may lead to a delay or missed diagnosis of bacteremia, identification of the pathogen, and adjustment of appropriate treatment according to sensitivities. In intensive care units, most patients are monitored using an arterial catheter, which allows for frequent blood tests without the need to puncture the patient.