[Infections associated with the use of biomaterials in medicine]

The paper deals with various problems related to foreign body infections. Such infections follow surgical replacements with orthopaedic or vascular prostheses or they are result of using catheters for diagnostic or treatment purposes. The list of most frequent microorganisms causing this kind of infections is presented and bacterial mechanisms enabling the colonization of biomaterials are described. The strategy for preparation of biomaterials which are better tolerated by human subjects and resistant to invading microorganisms is also presented.