Treatment of Infections Associated with Implanted Medical Devices

The development of an infection in the vicinity of an implanted medical device is a dramatic event in many fields of surgery, especially cardiovascular, orthopedic and neurosurgery. The diagnosis of these infections is usually difficult and their treatment is always complex and represents a challenge for both surgeons and infectious diseases specialists. As foreign materials are used with increased frequency in modern medicine, this problem will probably remain a major one in the future despite the improvement of techniques and the use of new antibiotics. For patients, infection of a prosthetic device often means the loss of its function and. is sometimes associated with a high mortality.