Review: Microbial colonization of prosthetic devices.

CONCLUSION: The threat of bacterial colonization and biofilm formation poses the most important limitation on the use and development of prosthetic devices in human medicine. Data from the literature suggest that microbial adherence effected by the glycocalyx is a fundamental factor in sepsis involving biomaterials and that it may explain the resistance of such infections to host defense mechanisms and to antibiotherapy. A full appreciation of the existence and the consequences of the biofilm mode of bacterial growth is required so that we can both prevent and eliminate these protected microbial reservoirs.