Unnecessary use of central venous catheters: The need to look outside the intensive care unit

We developed criteria for justifiable CVC use and evaluated CVC use in a public hospital. Unjustified CVC-days were more common for non-ICU patients compared with ICU patients. Also, insertion-site dressings were less likely to be intact on non-ICU patients. Interventions to reduce CVC-associated bloodstream infections should include non-ICU patients (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2004;25:266-268).