Conservative therapy for the management of cardiac implantable electronic device infection.

Along with the increased frequency of implantation, the incidence of cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) infection, which can have serious or fatal complications, has also increased. Although several successful conservative therapies for CIED infection have been reported, retained infected devices remain a source of relapse, which is closely related to a higher mortality rate. Presently, complete hardware removal is initially recommended for infected CIED patients, and indications for conservative therapy, including continuous administration of antibiotics, require careful consideration. On the other hand, complete removal is not required for superficial or incisional infection at the device pocket if an infection does not involve the device, but the patient should be closely followed for progression to deeper infection, which would require extraction.