What it means to you: Several new studies show that antibiotic-coated catheters can reduce infection rates — how much depends on the procedure, the type of catheter and the kind of antibiotic used on the device. Hospitals could prevent 90 percent of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections, says the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, and could save $500,000 a year on bloodstream infections alone by using antibiotic-coated catheters, according to The New England Journal of Medicine. A recent Clinical Infectious Diseases report analyzed previous studies and linked antimicrobial catheters to a 46 percent reduction in the number of colonized CVCs, compared with nonimpregnated CVCs.

The scoop: Several products have been enhanced by a number of antibiotics and shown to decrease hospital-acquired infections. Take a closer look.

· Minocycline, EDTA and ethanol: A report in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy revealed that minocycline, EDTA, and 25 percent ethanol could be successful against MRSA and Candida parapsilosis. Read.

· Nitrofurazone: In a study published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, Nitrofurazone-coated catheters were shown to inhibit catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) in patients with indwelling urinary catheters for 5 to 7 days. Read.

· Chlorhexidine and triclosan: Catheters impregnated with chlorhexidine and triclosan also have been shown to suppress the growth of uropathogens, including Proteus mirabilis, for 30 days or longer. Read.

· Minocycline and rifampin: In 1999, The New England Journal of Medicine reported on the benefits of antimicrobial-impregnated CVCs, associating them with “a lower rate of infection than the use of catheters impregnated with chlorhexidine and silver sulfadiazine.” Read. Five years later, the Journal of Clinical Oncology published similar results. Read.