Table 2. Comparison of therapies for prosthetic vascular graft infections with respect to the location of the graft.* .
| Variable | Thoracic-Aortic PVGI (n = 24) | Abdominal-Aortic PVGI (n = 27) | Peripheral-Arterial PVGI (n = 10) | p-Value† |
| Graft Infection Therapies | ||||
| Graft removal or replacement and antimicrobial therapy, n patients | 6 (25.0%) | 6 (22.2%) | 2 (20.0%) | 0.588 |
| Debridement with graft retention and antimicrobial therapy, n patients | 12 (50.0%) | 18 (66.7%) | 5 (50.0%) | |
| Antimicrobial therapy only, n patients | 6 (25.0%) | 3 (11.1%) | 3 (30.0%) | |
| Surgical Therapies | ||||
| Median number of surgical revisions per patient‡ | 1 (range 1–5) | 2 (range 1–10) | 2 (range 1–6) | 0.193 |
| Vacuum-assisted closure§, n patients | 5 (20.8%) | 9 (33.3%) | 2 (20.0%) | 0.630 |
| Plastic surgery with muscle flap, n patients | 2 (8.3%) | 3 (11.1%) | 2 (20.0%) | 0.668 |
| Empirical Antimicrobial Therapies | ||||
| Amoxicillin-clavulanate or flucloxacillin, n patients | 8 (33.3%) | 6 (22.2%) | 7 (70.0%) | 0.022 |
| Piperacillin-tazobactam or carbapenem, n patients | 9 (37.5%) | 19 (70.4%) | 2 (20.0%) | |
| Ceftriaxone, n patients | 3 (12.5%) | 1 (3.7%) | 1 (10.0%) | |
| Vancomycin, n patients | 4 (16.7%) | 1 (3.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | |
| Adequate empirical therapy**, n patients | 24 (100%) | 26 (96.3%) | 9 (90.0%) | 0.303 |
| Biofilm-active Antimicrobial Therapies | ||||
| Rifampicin-based, n patients | 16 (66.7%) | 5 (18.5%) | 7 (70.0%) | 0.001 |
| Ciprofloxacin-based, n patients | 8 (33.3%) | 10 (37.0%) | 4 (40.0%) | 0.940 |
| Antimicrobial Therapy in Patients Alive at One Year after Diagnosis | ||||
| Median duration in days of antimicrobial therapy†† | 92 (IQR 67–175) | 91 (IQR 52–246) | 46 (IQR 39–76) | 0.023 |
| Patients who switched from an intravenous antimicrobial regimen to an oral antimicrobial regimen‡‡, n | 11 (52.4%) | 5 (41.7%) | 5 (71.4%) | 0.531 |
| Median time in days between start of intravenous antimicrobial regimen and the switch to an oral regimen | 42 (IQR 13–58) | 34 (IQR 21–52) | 19 (IQR 15–37) | 0.320 |
PVGI = prosthetic vascular graft infection; IQR = interquartile range
*Percentages, IQR values, and ranges indicate relationship to the total number of patients within each respective group, not to the total number of patients included in the study.
A p-value ≤0.050 was considered significant.
In patients with at least one surgical revision of their graft.
Application of negative pressure to the local wound environment using a sealed foam dressing connected to a vacuum pump.
**Adequate empirical therapy according to the susceptibility testing of the respective isolated pathogen.
Total duration of both empirical and pathogen-specific antimicrobial therapy.
Percentages apply to the total number of patients who were alive at one year within each respective group.