Development of an infection-resistant vascular prosthesis.

To develop an infection-resistant arterial prosthesis, amikacin was bonded to 6-mm, uncrimped, filamentous velour prostheses using a collagen-release system. Infrarenal abdominal aortas were resected in 26 mongrel dogs. Thirteen dogs had their aortas replaced with the antibiotic-bonded grafts and 13 dogs had their aortas replaced with a graft containing collagen without antibiotics. Following closure of the abdominal incision, each dog received an intravenous infusion of 10(8) organisms of Staphylococcus aureus administered over a 30-minute interval. Three weeks after recovery from operation, the grafts were removed under aseptic conditions; all 13 (100%) of the control grafts were infected, but only one of 12 experimental grafts (8%) was infected. There were no adverse healing effects; to the contrary, there appeared to be accelerated development of a cellular neointima and fibroblastic infiltration to the interstices. Antibiotic bonding with a collagen-release system is a promising method for imparting infection resistance to a vascular prosthesis.