Management of abdominal endograft infection

Incidence, clinical presentation and management of aortic grafts infection after open surgical repair are well described in the literature. Infective complications involving endografts after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) have been scarcely investigated, since more attention has been given to the technical aspects of the procedure, including endoleaks, device migration, neck dilatation, endotension and aneurysm rupture. Nevertheless, that is a rare but severe complication occurring after EVAR; potentially difficult to diagnose and treat. Since 1991 only 102 cases of abdominal endograft infections have been reported in the literature. Treatment of infected abdominal endografts is controversial. Although reports have shown that high-risk patients with infected stent grafts treated conservatively with antimicrobial therapy and percutaneous drainage can still survive, most authors agree that an infected endograft should be removed if patient's conditions allow intervention. Standard treatment for infected abdominal endografts includes complete graft excision and local debridement followed by extra-anatomical bypass revascularization or in situ reconstruction with an aortic-bisiliac or bifemoral graft (Dacron or PTFE) or with a homograft. Lower overall mortality was observed for surgical management by explantation of infected endograft followed by in situ replacement as compared to other surgical solutions, but no definitive conclusions can be drawn about the optimal treatment strategy for aortic reconstruction.