Comparison of blood-culture contamination rates in a pediatric emergency room: Newly inserted intravenous catheters versus venipuncture

We compared contamination rates of blood cultures obtained either from newly inserted intravenous catheters or via venipuncture. Of 2,431 blood cultures, the overall contamination rate was 2.7% (intravenous catheter, 3.4%; venipuncture, 2.0%; P=.043). The site of lowest contamination was the antecubital fossa, making this the optimal choice for blood-culture sampling (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2000;21:649-651).