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CDC - Use Only Sterile Ultrasound Gel for Percutaneous Procedures
Written by Jonathan White on 5/22/2025
Alert: Use Only Sterile Ultrasound Gel for Percutaneous Procedures
Improper use of ultrasound gel risks patient safety
The CDC is assisting with an ongoing multistate investigation involving the use of non-sterile ultrasound gel for ultrasound-guided percutaneous procedures (procedures involving skin or tissue puncture). Product testing identified Paraburkholderia fungorum (an environmental bacterium) from two non-sterile ultrasound gel products. Genetically similar isolates of P. fungorum were also detected primarily from patient blood cultures; some of these patients were known to have undergone ultrasound-guided percutaneous procedures before culture collection.