Treatment of Vascular Prosthesis Infections — 15 Years of Experience

Abstract

, 47 patients were treated at Department of General and Vascular Surgery Bródnowski Hospital due to symptomatic, late vascular graft infections. The most common local symptoms were groin abscesses, often with bleeding complications. All patients with diagnosed vascular prosthesis infections were treated operatively. Results. Fifty-three operations were performed, resulting in the regression of infection symptoms in 17 cases (63%), with 37% of cases leading to amputation. Mortality in the patients examined amounted to 37%; 46.4% of cases displayed recurrent infection. The period of hospital treatment oscillated between 12 to 221 days (av. 74 days). conclusions. 1. Aggressive operative treatment of vascular prosthesis infections is burdened by high percentages of recurrence and amputation. 2. Less radical operative treatment techniques yield similar results. 3. A uniform protocol for diagnosed vascular prosthesis infection is currently lacking.

Secondary Aortoenteric Fistula After Abdominal Aortic Graft Implementation in Our Own Material

“…In our center we used graft removal and a new, silver-impregnated graft in situ, a method that was used by, for example, Kavanagh et al [26] and Batt et al [27]. Other revascularization methods include, e.g., allograft implantation or femoral vein application [28][29][30]. However, preparatory procedures (a femoral vein) or preparation (a blood group compatible allograft) are not always possible when the patient with bleeding caused by an aortoenteric fistula has urgent surgery [31].…”