Previous trials have shown that ethanol lock therapy (ELT) reduces the incidence of catheter-related blood stream infections (CRBSI) in intestinal failure (IF) patients. A new study in Pediatrics assessed the effect of the FDA-initiated nationwide shortage of ethanol on CRBSI in pediatric IF patients. Researchers found the “mean CRBSI rate per 1000 catheter days was 0.7 ± 1.3 before ELT shortage. This increased to 6.2 ± 2.5 after frequency reduction… [and] resulted in complete failure in CRBSI prophylaxis.”

Read it in Pediatrics.