NHSN CLABSI Definition
Applies the NHSN definition of a central line-associated bloodstream infection, which has a laboratory part and a device part.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Age group
- Older than one year
- Blood culture result
- Recognized pathogen
- Consecutive calendar days the central line has been in place
- 4
- The line was in place on the day of the event, or the day before
- Yes
Result: a CLABSI on LCBI 1, with the line in place 4 calendar days
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- LCBI 1
- A recognized pathogen from one or more blood cultures, not related to an infection at another site. No sign or symptom is required.
- LCBI 2
- A common commensal from two or more blood cultures drawn on separate occasions on the same or consecutive days, with at least one sign or symptom.
- Central line-associated
- The line was in place more than two consecutive calendar days, counting the day of insertion as day 1, and was in place on the day of the event or the day before.
- What it is not
- A clinical diagnosis. The association is a timing rule, not a statement that the line caused the infection.
- One culture or two
- One is enough for a recognized pathogen. A single common-commensal culture is a contaminant under this definition however the patient looks.
- Another site
- An organism related to an infection elsewhere is a secondary bloodstream infection, attributed to that site, and is not an LCBI at all.
What you enter
- Age group
- Blood culture result
- The commensal was grown from two or more blood cultures drawn on separate occasions, on the same or consecutive days
- The organism is related to an infection at another site (a secondary bloodstream infection, not an LCBI)
- Fever above 100.4 F (38.0 C)
- Chills (accepted for a patient older than one year)
- Hypotension (accepted for a patient older than one year)
- Hypothermia below 96.8 F (36.0 C) (accepted for a patient one year old or younger)
The other 4 fields
- Apnea (accepted for a patient one year old or younger)
- Bradycardia (accepted for a patient one year old or younger)
- Consecutive calendar days the central line has been in place, counting the day of insertion as day 1
- The line was in place on the day of the event, or the day before
How this is calculated
CDC National Healthcare Safety Network. Bloodstream Infection Event (Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection and Non-central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection). NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual, Chapter 4. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.