Summary
Six-hundred-and-three patients who underwent 720 vascular prosthetic graft Operations
caudal to the diaphragm were studied retrospectively. Wound complications appeared
in 99 patients. Prophylactic antibiotics were not used. Serous secretion was found
after 27 arterial graft procedures (3.8%), superficial wound infection after 41 (5.7%),
and prosthetic graft infection after 31 (4.3%). Of the 31 patients with prosthetic
graft infection, 10 recovered (32%). Four of these patients recovered after removal
of the Staphylococcus aureus-infected prosthesis. Three received a replacement prosthesis
with systemic antibiotic treatment and closed antibiotic irrigation, and one patient's
prosthesis was replaced with an auto-logous vein graft with antibiotic treatment.
Twelve patients (39%) underwent amputation and 9 died. The frequency of graft occlusion
was greater when the prosthesis was infected with Staphylococcus aureus than with
other microorganisms. The aggressive approach used in the 4 above-mentioned cases
could be a treatment modality in prosthetic graft infection with Staphylococcus aureus,
especially because of the high incidence of graft occlusion associated with these
microorganisms.
Key words
Vascular prosthetic surgery - Prosthesis infection
