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Introduction: Surgical site infections (SSI) are a serious complication in vascular surgery which may lead to severe morbidity and mortality. Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage is associated with increased risk for development of SSIs in central vascular surgery. The risk for SSI can be reduced by perioperative eradication of S. aureus carriage in cardiothoracic and orthopedic surgery. This study analyzes the relation between S. aureus eradication therapy and SSI in a vascular surgery population., Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed, including all patients undergoing vascular surgery between February 2013 and April 2015. Patients were screened for S. aureus nasal carriage and, when tested positive, were subsequently treated with eradication therapy. The presence of SSI was recorded based on criteria of the CDC. The control group consisted of a cohort of vascular surgery patients in 2010, who were screened, but received no treatment., Results: A total of 444 patients were screened. 104 nasal swabs were positive for S. aureus, these patients were included in the intervention group. 204 patients were screened in the 2010 cohort. 51 tested positive and were included in the control group. The incidence of S. aureus infection was 5 out of 51 (9.8%) in the control group versus 3 out of 104 in the eradication group (2.2%; 95% confidence interval 0.02-1.39; P = 0.13). A subgroup analysis showed that the incidence of S. aureus infection was 3 out of 23 (13.0%) in the control group in central reconstructive surgery versus 0 out of 44 in the intervention group (P = 0.074). The reduction of infection pressure by S. aureus was stronger than the reduction of infection pressure by other pathogens (exact maximum likelihood estimation; OR = 0.0724; 95% CI: 0.001-0.98; p = 0.0475)., Conclusion: S. aureus eradication therapy reduces the infection pressure of S. aureus, resulting in a reduction of SSIs caused by S. aureus.

Introduction: The graft of choice in lower limb bypass surgery is the autologous saphenous vein (ASV). However, a prosthetic graft is needed in the absence of an ASV. In such situations, we used an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) pre-cuffed Dynaflo graft as supragenicular bypass or Distaflo graft as infragenicular or femorocrural bypass. In respect to the expanding possibilities of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), the indication for bypass surgery moved toward patients with advanced stages of peripheral arterial occlusive disease. For this reason, this study analyzed the current performances of these ePTFE grafts and ASV grafts with special attention to limb salvage., Methods: In a retrospective study all patients who underwent peripheral bypass surgery between 2004 and 2008 were included. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to express primary patency, secondary patency, and limb salvage rates at 1 and 3 years. Log-rank tests were performed to compare graft types., Results: A total of 272 grafts (ePTFE/ASV: 110/162) were performed in lower limb bypass surgery. The mean follow-up was 20.3 months. The secondary 3-year patency rates were for (n=78) supragenicular grafts (ePTFE/ASV: 45%/94%)*, for (n=124) infragenicular grafts (24%/74%), and 70 for femorocrural grafts (26%/52%). Limb salvage after 3 years was 59% in the ePTFE group versus 78% in the ASV group (P < .05)., Conclusion: In the current population of vascular patients where no PTA is possible and a peripheral bypass is necessary, the ASV remains the graft of first choice. However, the pre-cuffed ePTFE graft is a good alternative, especially in cases of critical limb ischemia, in respect to an acceptable limb salvage rate.