Efficacy of vancomycin, teicoplanin and fusidic acid as prophylactic agents in prevention of vascular graft infection: an experimental study in rat.

Abstract

To compare the efficacy of a single prophylactic dose of intra-peritoneal vancomycin and teicoplanin with anti-biotic treated Dacron grafts (vancomycin, teicoplanin, 10 or 40% fusidic acid-soaked grafts) in preventing vascular graft infections in a rat model. Prospective, randomized, controlled animal study. The graft infections were established in the subcutaneous tissues of 80 female Sprague-Dawley rats by the implantation of Dacron prostheses followed by the topical inoculation with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The study groups were as follows: (1) uncontaminated control group, (2) untreated contaminated group, (3) contaminated group with intra-peritoneal vancomycin, (4) contaminated group with intra-peritoneal teicoplanin, (5) contaminated group received vancomycin-soaked Dacron graft, (6) contaminated group received teicoplanin-soaked Dacron graft, (7) contaminated group received 40% fusidic acid-soaked Dacron graft, and (8) contaminated group received 10% fusidic acid-soaked Dacron graft prophylaxis. The grafts were removed after 7 days and evaluated by a quantitative culture analysis. No infection was detected in controls. The untreated contaminated group had a high bacteria count (6.0 x 10(4) CFU/cm2 Dacron graft). Groups that received intra-peritoneal vancomycin or teicoplanin had less bacterial growth (4.8 x 10(3) and 3.9 x 10(3)CFU/cm2 Dacron graft, respectively). Similarly, the group that received 10% fusidic acid-soaked graft showed less bacterial growth (3.6 x 10(3) CFU/cm2 Dacron graft). The groups with vancomycin-, teicoplanin- and 40% fusidic acid-soaked grafts showed no evidence of infection. Statistical analyses demonstrated that intra-peritoneal prophylactic antibiotic treatment was less effective in inhibiting bacterial growth than high concentration antimicrobial-soaking of grafts. The use of vancomycin-, teicoplanin- and 40% fusidic acid-soaked grafts was effective in preventing primary prosthetic vascular graft infection.