Synthetic arterial grafts. II. infection complications.

A retrospective study of 91 patients with synthetic arterial grafts was made. The investigation showed that infection of synthetic arterial grafts is a serious and life-threatening complication. Of our 14 infected cases, 5 patients were amputated and 4 patients died. The incidence of infection is significantly increased when the anastomosis is performed through a groin incision. In addition the management of patients with infected graft is discussed and two cases are reported.