[Vascular graft-associated infection: successful management without graft removal]

Removal of graft with intravenous antibiotics is traditionally considered the most effective treatment of vascular graft-associated infections. However, an increasing number of reports suggests that this complication can be effectively treated without graft removal.

A prospective study to evaluate the outcome of conservative management of vascular graft-associated infection seen in our center was performed. The diagnosis of graft-associated infection was based on microbiological tests, and imaging studies. In our study, patients were hemodynamically stable with functioning vascular graft as per clinical and imaging evaluations. Conservative management included antibiotic treatment and local debridement without removal of vascular graft.

Fourteen patients with vascular graft-associated infection were enrolled in our study. Eleven out of 14 patients (78.6%) responded successfully to conservative management. Treatment failure was reported in 3 patients, 2 of whom required graft removal. After a two-year follow-up, these 14 patients were clinically stable without recurrence of infection.

Our study has revealed that conservative management of vascular graft-associated infection seems to be effective and should be considered in hemodynamically stable patients with functioning vascular graft.