The use of antimicrobial biomaterials as a savior from post-operative vascular graft-related infections: A review

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases rank first in mortality and morbidity. There are various treatments for replacing a blood vessel artificially, such as autologous graft implantation, bio-engineered vascular graft implantation, etc. Due to the external medical intervention or immunocompromised state in the patients, there are high chances of septic infection at the site of implantation. This increases the risk of blood-related infections in these patients. Thus, it is imperative to avoid the spread of infection and to destroy the infection-causing microorganisms by incorporating an antimicrobial agent in the implantable biomaterial. For instance, use combination of minocycline, chlorhexidine, and rifampin was impregnated on Dacron, and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) vascular grafts showed a 100% patency rate and increased antibiotic activity than the counterparts. This review summarises various methods of incorporating antimicrobial agents in the biomaterial for developing an antimicrobial vascular graft.

Keywords

• Anti-microbial agents
• Antibiotics-coated biomaterial
• Vascular grafts
• Vascular graft-related infections