MINI-BAL SAMPLING CATHETER

PROVEN TO ENABLE A MORE ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS,

FOR MORE TARGETED ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT

BALLARD* Mini-BAL Sampling Catheter is a telescoping catheter that safely samples a patient’s lower respiratory tract secretions, giving physicians the data they need to make an accurate lung infection diagnosis and prescribe targeted antibiotic treatment.1

Using bronchoalveolar lavage as a tool to help diagnose lower respiratory tract disease has been shown to reduce both antibiotic usage and healthcare costs.2

Since 2001, over 200,000 BALLARD* Mini-BAL Sampling Catheters have been produced, showing a history of safe use.

The BALLARD* Mini-BAL Sampling Catheter has a soft, directional tip that allows safe and quick retrieval of lower respiratory tract samples. This can help avoid the false negatives and false positives seen in an estimated 23% of endotracheal aspirate cultures.2 These secretions from the distal airway can help identify infectious pathogens of the lung for a microbiologically confirmed diagnosis.

Features and benefits include:

  • Procedure can be performed bedside in minutes by trained respiratory therapist or other trained clinicians
  • Directional tip allows right or left lung sampling
  • Maintains PEEP when used with supplied ventilator adapter
  • Features a soft, cushioned, radiopaque tip for safe sampling from the lower lung

Equips physicians with the power to target antibiotic treatment and reduce antibiotic use and healthcare costs. Nonbronchoscopic BAL enables physicians to reduce unnecessary antibiotics, discontinuing antibiotic use an estimated 21.5% of the time as a result of the nonbronchoscopic BAL procedure being performed,3 leading to reduction in antibiotic use and healthcare costs.3 With this power of targeted treatment, BALLARD* Mini-BAL Sampling Catheter can help you in the fight to protect your patients from ventilator-associated pneumonia.

  • The nonbronchoscopic BAL procedure has been shown to help target or de-escalate antibiotic therapy in an estimated 60.7% of patients receiving initial broad spectrum therapy.
  • Bronchoscopic sampling utilizing a protected specimen brush and nonbronchoalveolar lavage shows good overall agreement among quantitative cultures.
  • Convenient BALLARD* Mini-BAL Prep Pack includes all accessories needed to quickly perform nonbronchoscopic BAL at the bedside

“An accurate microbiological diagnosis of VAP is likely to be the key element in ensuring appropriate antibiotic coverage [and] limiting the use and duration of empirically prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics.”2,4

There are inherent risks in the use of all prescription medical devices. Please see the full Directions for Use containing Indications, Cautions, Warnings and other relevant information.

REFERENCES:

  1. American Thoracic Society Guidelines for the Management of Adults with Hospital-acquired, Ventilator-associated, and Healthcare-associated Pneumonia. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, V. 171, 388-416 (2005).
  2. Fujitani, S, Cohen-Melamed MH, Tuttle RP, Delgado E, Yasuhiko T, Darby, JM. Comparison of semi-quantitative endotracheal aspirates to quantitative non-bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage in diagnosing ventilator-associated pneumonia. Respiratory Care, November 2009 V. 54, No 11, 1453-1461.
  3. Kollef MH, Ward S. The influence of mini-BAL cultures on patient outcomes: implications for the antibiotic management of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Chest 1998: 113(2); 412-420.
  4. Yu VL, Singh N, Excessive antimicrobial usage causes measurable harm to patients with suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia. Intensive Care Med 2004:30(5): 735-738.
  5. Ost, DE, et al. Decision analysis of antibiotic and diagnostic strategies in VAP. Am J Respir Care Med, 2003; 168(9): 1060-7.