Bacterial biofilms on implanted suture material are a cause of surgical site infection.
BACKGROUND
Surgical site infection (SSI) has been estimated to occur in up to 5% of all procedures, accounting for up to 0.5% of all hospital costs. Bacterial biofilms residing on implanted foreign bodies have been implicated as contributing or causative factors in a wide variety of infectious scenarios, but little consideration has been given to the potential for implanted, submerged suture material to act as a host for biofilm and thus serve as a nidus of infection.


METHODS
We report a series of 15 patients who underwent open Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (with musculofascial closure with permanent, multifilament sutures) who developed longstanding and refractory SSIs in the abdominal wall. Explanted suture material at subsequent exploration was examined for biofilm with confocal laser-scanning microscopy (CLSM) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).


RESULTS
All 15 patients at re-exploration were found to have gross evidence of a "slimy" matrix or dense reactive granulation tissue localized to the implanted sutures. Confocal laser-scanning microscopy revealed abundant biofilm present on all sutures examined; FISH was able to identify the presence of specific pathogens in the biofilm. Complete removal of the foreign bodies (and attendant biofilms) resulted in all cases in cure of the SSI.


CONCLUSIONS
Bacterial biofilms on implanted suture material can manifest as persistent surgical site infections that require complete removal of the underlying foreign body substrata for resolution.
1 Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sandeep
S
Kathju
Laura
L
Nistico
Irene
I
Tower
Leslie-Ann
LA
Lasko
Paul
P
Stoodley
D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018441:Biofilms; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013537:Sutures / Q000382:microbiology*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents