Selective preservation of infected prosthetic arterial grafts. Analysis of a 20-year experience with 120 extracavitary-infected grafts.

OBJECTIVE

The authors report on their 20-year experience with 120 patients with infected extracavitary prosthetic arterial grafts (95 polytetraflouroethylene, 25 Dacron). Throughout this experience, an effort was made, when appropriate, to salvage all or a portion of these infected grafts.

METHODS

When patients had arterial bleeding (20 cases) or systemic sepsis (6 cases), immediate graft excision was performed. When the infected graft was occluded (43 cases), subtotal graft excision was performed, leaving an oversewn 2- to 3-mm graft remnant to maintain patency of the artery. Complete graft preservation was attempted in 51 cases in which the graft was patent, the patient was not septic, and the anastomoses were intact. Aggressive operative wound debridement was repeated, as necessary, to achieve wound healing. The preferred method of revascularization, when necessary, included secondary bypasses tunneled through uninfected (often lateral) routes. Follow-up averaged 3 years (range, 1 month-20 years).

RESULTS

This strategy resulted in a hospital mortality of 12% (14/120) and a hospital amputation rate in survivors of 13% (14/106 threatened limbs). Of the surviving patients treated by complete graft preservation, the hospital amputation rate was only 4% (2/45) and long-term complete graft preservation was successful in 71% (32/45) of cases. Partial graft preservation also proved successful in 85% (35/41) of surviving patients who had occluded grafts. Successful complete graft preservation was as likely when gram-negative or gram-positive bacteria were cultured from the wound, with the exception of Pseudomonas (successful graft preservation in only 40% [4/10] of cases).

CONCLUSION

Based on this 20-year experience, the authors conclude that selective partial or complete graft preservation represents a simpler and better method of managing infected extracavitary prosthetic grafts than routine total graft excision.