The application of antibiotic bonding to the treatment of established vascular prosthetic infection
R. S. Greco, S. Z. Trooskin, A. P. Donetz and R. A. Harvey
We used surfactant-mediated antibiotic bonding to treat established
vascular prosthetic infections in an animal model. The infrarenal aorta of
dogs was replaced with a polytef (PTFE) graft locally contaminated with
Staphylococcus aureus. Infected grafts were then replaced with control
polytef or polytef bonded with benzylkonium chloride and penicillin G
tagged with radioactive carbon, or polytef bonded with
tridodecylmethylammonium chloride and penicillin G tagged with radioactive
carbon. Both types of antibiotic-bonded grafts had significantly fewer
infections than control grafts did. The labeled penicillin G remained bound
to both groups of antibiotic-bonded grafts for at least three weeks. In a
second group of studies, surfactant-treated polytef adsorbed parenterally
administered labeled penicillin G in highly significant concentrations
compared with control grafts. These studies suggest the possibility that
human vascular prosthetic infection may be treated with an
antibiotic-bonded graft.
