Surgical Principles for the Management of Peripheral Graft Infections

Prosthetic graft infections remain one of the most significant complications encountered by vascular surgeons given the high rate of morbidity and limb loss. Graft infections involving the lower extremity have a reported incidence of 2 to 6%. Presentation can include an indolent infection, septic shock, or frank hemorrhage. The goals of therapy are minimizing morbidity and mortality, preventing recurrent infection, and limb salvage. The gold standard in management is complete graft excision; however, this may not always be feasible or necessary. Various techniques such as partial preservation with concomitant revascularization may be appropriate in selected circumstances. A thorough understanding of the pathophysiology, extent of infection, and the patient’s overall clinical picture are necessary so that a patient-specific approach can be implemented. This review contains 4 figures, 1 table, and 31 references. Keywords: cryopreserved cadaveric graft, extracavitary graft, graft excision, graft infection, graft preservation, lower-extremity bypass graft, lateral femoral bypass, prosthetic vascular graft