Sequential analysis of staphylococcal colonization of body surfaces of patients undergoing vascular surgery.

Slime-producing coagulase-negative staphylococci are pathogens in vascular surgery by virtue of their ability to adhere to and persist on prosthetic graft material. Inguinal and abdominal skin sites were cultured in 41 patients upon hospitalization, and slime production and antimicrobial susceptibility were assessed in all recovered staphylococcal isolates. Twenty-one patients eventually underwent lower-extremity revascularization. In the operative population, cultures were also obtained on the day of surgery and fifth postoperative day. All 21 patients received perioperative cefazolin. Of 327 coagulase-negative staphylococci recovered, Staphylococcus epidermidis (47%), S. haemolyticus (21%), and S. hominis (10%) were the predominant isolates. Slime-producing coagulase-negative staphylococci were recovered from 17 of 21 patients at admission but only from 8 of 21 patients on day 5 postoperation (P less than 0.05). S. epidermidis isolates demonstrated increasing multiple resistance from admission to 5 days postoperation to methicillin, gentamicin, clindamycin, erythromycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (P less than 0.05). All coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin and vancomycin. Slime-producing capability was not associated with increased methicillin resistance for the recovered isolates. The data demonstrate that patients enter the hospital colonized with slime-producing strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci and that during hospitalization the staphylococcal skin burden shifts from a predominately susceptible to a resistant microbial population, which may enhance the importance of slime production as a risk factor in lower-extremity revascularization.