Inguinal vs Rectal Swabs for the Detection of Resistant Bacteria v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Comparison of Inguinal and Rectal Swabs for the Detection of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp
IRAS ID
151750
Contact name
Indran Balakrishnan
Contact email
Research summary
Current practice, in accordance with guidance from Public Health England, is to screen for carbapenem resistant Gram negative bacilli using rectal swabs. This is routine practice on several wards in the Royal Free Hospital.
The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of inguinal (groin crease) swabs with rectal swabs, as the former would obviously be less invasive and more acceptable to patients. Inguinal swabs have previously been shown to be effective in the detection of other multiresistant Enterobacteriaceae.
We propose to take inguinal swabs from around 100 patients who are already having rectal swabs taken over a 3 month period, and compare results (i.e. isolation rate of carbapenem resistant Gram negative bacilli) between the two sets of swabs.
Potential benefit: a more acceptable, less invasive sampling technique for the detection of carbapenem-resistant Gram negative bacilli.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/0251
Date of REC Opinion
14 Apr 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion