Successful conservative treatment of an infected central venous stent

Several cases of stent infection have been reported in the medical literature. Most required surgical removal of the stent, sometimes with severe sequelae including limb loss. We report the case of a 39-year-old hemodialysis patient who, 3 weeks prior to admission, had undergone angioplasty of the right innominate and subclavian veins with implantation of a Wallstent. He was admitted to the hospital with sepsis due to Staphylococcus aureus and had histological evidence of endovascular infection within the stent. The patient was successfully treated with a 6-week course of intravenous antibiotics delivered directly into the stent, thus avoiding the need for surgical removal of the device.