The Efficacy of Taurolidine as Catheter Lock Solution in the Prevention of Catheter-related Thrombophlebitis in Horses

Introduction
Thrombophlebitis is a serious complication of intravenous catheterization in horses.
in human medicine, problems associated with long-term iV catheterization are addressed with catheter lock solutions. taurosept® , containing taurolidine 2%,
is one of the solutions tested and used. this study aims to investigate whether the use of taurosept as catheter lock solution in horses reduces the incidence of thrombophle- bitis.

Materials and methods
Horses admitted to our clinic between January 1st 2009 and June 30st 2010, needing an intravenous catheter for at least 48 hours were included. a polyurethrane catheter was placed in one jugular vein, and was flushed with a sterile heparinised solution every 4 hours before filling it with 2.5ml taurosept. the catheterised vein was examined twice daily and any sign of thrombophlebitis noted. if thrombophlebitis was suspected, an ultrasound examination was performed. after catheter withdrawal, its tip was submit- ted for bacteriologic analysis. the study group was compared to a control group part of which was prospective, including horses admitted to the clinic during 2011 needing an intravenous catheter for at least 48 hours. the same protocol as for the study group was followed, using physiologic saline solution instead of taurolidine.

Results
There were 47 horses enrolled in the taurosept study group, of which 5 (10.6%) devel- oped a thrombophlebitis. thirty-two horses figured in the control group, of which 7 (21.8%) developed a thrombophlebitis, which was not significantly different. in the control group 63.6% of cultured catheter tips showed bacterial growth, whereas in the taurosept group only 33.3% showed bacterial growth which was not significantly different.

Conclusions
These preliminary results compare favourably to the 20 to 50% incidence of throm- bophlebitis reported in older literature1-3 and are comparable to an incidence of 7.5 to 10% of thrombophlebitis in more recent reports on postoperative complications after colic surgery4,5.