Gold and gold-palladium coated polypropylene grafts in a S. epidermidis wound infection model.
BACKGROUND
The use of non-absorbable mesh grafts in both abdominal wall defects and inguinal hernias are impossible in the presence of contamination. This study was conducted for evaluation of the efficiencies of polypropylene mesh grafts coated with gold and palladium-gold.


METHODS
Ten piece of 1 x 2 cm of polypropylene mesh grafts were used in each group of naïve, gold-coated, and palladium-gold-coated. The grafts were incubated in physiological saline buffered and 0.5 McFarland slime positive Staphylococcus epidermidis for 24 h. At intervals of 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 h grafts were washed with saline and vortexed for 2 min in 2 ml of physiological saline. There were 100 microl of samples of vortexed material incubated in blood agar and 24 h later, colony numbers were assessed. In the second part of study, the grafts were implanted below the musculoaponeurotic layer at inguinal region of rats following the same procedure of incubation and washing. On the 8th day, the rats were examined for infection rate and their wound cultures were obtained.


RESULTS
The least amount of bacterial growth was detected in the samples obtained from gold-palladium coated grafts; whereas the highest rate of growth was found in samples of naive grafts. The superficial surgical site infection rate was 0% in gold-palladium coated, 30% in gold-coated and 100% in naïve polypropylene group. The bacterial growth rate from wound cultures confirmed the superficial surgical site infection rates in all groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Prosthetic graft infection with S. epidermidis can be prevented by coating the graft with gold-palladium or gold.
Saygun
Oral
O
Department of General Surgery, Kirikkale University Medical School, Kirikkale, Turkey. oral@kku.edu.tr
Agalar
Canan
C
Aydinuraz
Kuzey
K
Agalar
Fatih
F
Daphan
Cagatay
C
Saygun
Meral
M
Ceken
Sabahat
S
Akkus
Abdullah
A
Denkbas
Emir Baki
EB
D034861:Abdominal Wall / Q000601:surgery; D000818:Animals; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000382:microbiology; D006046:Gold; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery; D010165:Palladium; D011126:Polypropylenes; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013526:Surgical Mesh / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000592:standards; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*
D011126:Polypropylenes; D010165:Palladium; D006046:Gold