Anti-Infective Efficacy of Silver-Coated Medical Prostheses

Abstract

Medical prostheses constitute an indispensable component of modern health care. Like other approaches of medical intervention, the insertion of medical prostheses can be associated with serious complications. The ongoing advances in the mechanical properties of medical prostheses have not necessarily resulted in lower rates of prosthesis-related infection. Infection remains the most common serious complication of medical prostheses. For instance, vascular catheters account for most cases of nosocomial bloodstream infection [1], and catheter-related urinary tract infection is the most frequent nosocomial infection [2]. Two decades ago, infections associated with medical prostheses accounted for about half of all nosocomial infections [2]. Today, with their increasing use, medical prostheses are expected to cause a larger portion of cases of nosocomial infections, particularly in the subpopulations of immunocompromised, chronically ill, and elderly subjects.