Table 3.

Bacterial species cultured from epidural catheters and skin swabs

	Extracorporeal segment	Skin swab	Subcutaneous segment	Tip segment
Patients positive for bacterial growth, n
CNS*	2	4	1	1
Micrococcus luteus	0	0	1	5
Propionibacterium acnes	0	3	0	0
Streptococcus spp†	1	0	0	1
Bacillus spp‡	0	1	1	1
Kocuria rhizophila	0	0	0	2
Neisseria spp§	1	0	0	0
Rhodotorula mucilaginosa	1	0	0	0
Actinomyces oris	1	0	0	0
Unknown	1	3	1	0

*CNS include S. epidermidis, S. saccharolyticus, S. capitis, S. warneri.

†Streptococcus spp: S. salivarius, S. mitis.

‡Bacillus spp: B. simplex, B. horneckiae, B. licheniformis.

§Neisseria spp: N. perflava, N. flavescens.

CNS, coagulase-negative staphylococci.