{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,7]],"date-time":"2026-04-07T13:03:00Z","timestamp":1775566980032,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774396800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Epidural catheters and epidural port systems are widely used in interventional pain management; however, infectious complications remain an important safety concern, particularly during prolonged catheterization. This retrospective real-world cohort study evaluated the incidence, microbiological characteristics, and time-dependent risk factors of epidural catheter- and port-related infections in a tertiary pain clinic. A total of 352 patients were included after predefined exclusion criteria were applied. Infection was defined based on clinical findings and microbiological confirmation. The overall infection rate was 10.5% (37\/352). Catheter duration was significantly longer in patients who developed infection and remained an independent predictor in multivariable logistic regression analysis (odds ratio per day: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.06\u20131.19; p = 0.002). Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated moderate discriminatory ability of catheter duration for predicting infection (AUC = 0.68), with an optimal cut-off of 7 days. The most frequently isolated pathogens were methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci. No cases of meningitis or sepsis occurred, and all infections were successfully managed with antibiotic therapy. These findings emphasize the importance of duration-based risk assessment and careful follow-up strategies in patients requiring prolonged epidural analgesia.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens15040349","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,7]],"date-time":"2026-04-07T12:05:49Z","timestamp":1775563549000},"page":"349","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Epidural Catheter- and Port-Related Infections in Pain Medicine: A Cohort Study from a Chronic Pain Center with Long-Term Catheterization"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3627-3882","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mesut","family":"Bak\u0131r","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Esra","family":"Bayburtluo\u011flu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-3474-2764","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bedri","family":"\u0130lcan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4941-6432","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kaan","family":"Yavuz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nureddin","family":"Teker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7042-6934","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u015eebnem","family":"Rumeli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e32902","DOI":"10.1097\/MD.0000000000032902","article-title":"Pain management with epidural catheter and epidural analgesia after spinal dorsal instrumentation of lumbar spine","volume":"102","author":"Hamed","year":"2023","journal-title":"Medicine"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Provenzano, D.A., Hanes, M., Hunt, C., Benzon, H.T., Grider, J.S., Cawcutt, K., Doshi, T.L., Hayek, S., Hoelzer, B., and Johnson, R.L. 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