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Environment of Care

Category: Environment of Care

ePoster Kiosk Presentation

EOC 76 - Universal Use of Heating Devices in Sink Drainpipes Reduced Clinical bacteremia in a Real-world Intensive Care Unit

Monday, June 3, 2024
10:46 AM – 11:15 AM CST
Location: Kiosk 3 - APIC Central, Hall 1

    Presenter(s)

  • Itaru Nakamura

    Associate Professor
    Tokyo Medical University Hospital

    • Co-Author(s)

  • AO

    Asami Okugawa, RN

    Infection control nurse
    Department of Infection Prevention and Control, Tokyo Medical University Hospital

  • TS

    Tomohide Shimodaira, MPharm

    Board Certified Infection Control Pharmacy Specialist
    Department of Infection Prevention and Control, Tokyo Medical University Hospital

  • YM

    Yuri Miura, Ph.D.

    Clinical Microbiologist
    Department of Infection Prevention and Control, Tokyo Medical University Hospital

  • TY

    Tetsuo Yamaguchi, Ph.D.

    Assocciated professor
    Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Toho University Faculty of Medicine

Disclosure(s):
ITARU NAKAMURA: No financial relationships to disclose
ASAMI OKUGAWA, RN: No financial relationships to disclose
TOMOHIDE SHIMODAIRA, MPharm: No financial relationships to disclose
YURI MIURA, Ph.D.: No financial relationships to disclose
TETSUO YAMAGUCHI, Ph.D.: No financial relationships to disclose


Background: Environmental contamination of handwashing sinks and drains can negatively impact hand hygiene practices and facilitate pathogen transmission, resulting in healthcare-associated bacteremia. The heating of sink drainpipes was found to regulate sink contamination under experimental conditions. This study aimed to determine whether implementing a sink drainpipe heater effectively mitigates healthcare-associated bacteremia in a real-world hospital setting.

Methods: The study was conducted from January 2020 to November 2023. Heating devices were installed in all (n = 22) sink drainpipes in the intensive care unit (ICU) in March 2023. The study was divided into pre-intervention (January 2020 to March 2023) and post-intervention (April to November 2023) periods. The outcome was the difference in the incidence of bacteremia in the ICU before and after the intervention. The sink basins were cleaned daily with detergent, while the sink drainpipes were automatically heated to > 100 °C for 20 minutes twice daily.　As the main method of preventing bacterial transmission, hand hygiene was measured as the hand hygiene index (HHI) based on the total amount of alcohol-based hand sanitizer used and the total number of inpatient days.

Results: Before the intervention, a total of 56, 71, 55, and 16 cases of bacteremia occurred in 2020, 2021, 2022, and January–March 2023, respectively. Post-intervention, 28 cases occurred from April to November 2023. The occurrence of bacteremia averaged 5.0 cases and 3.5 cases per month before and after the intervention, respectively (p < 0.05). The monthly HHI was 123.6 and 114.5 before and after the intervention.

Conclusions: Although hand hygiene practices did not improve during the study period, the universal installation of heaters in sink drainpipes, which had been experimentally effective, also significantly reduced the occurrence of clinical bacteremia in an ICU in a real-world setting.

Learning Objectives:

  • Upon completion, participant will be able to understand the clinical effect of the universal use of heating devices in sink drainpipes.
  • Upon completion, participant will be able to understand the impact of bacteremia by the universal use of heating devices in sink drainpipes.
  • Upon completion, participant will be able to understand what is heating devices in sink drainpipes.