Abstract
We investigated a polyester vascular prosthesis (PET) coated with elemental silver (SC). Measurement of silver release over a period of 52 weeks by means of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry of PET with (PET‐G) and without (PET‐N) gelatine impregnation revealed a silver release on the first day of 1.2 ± 0.2μg (PET‐N) and 1.2 ± 0.1 μg (PET‐G) (calculated for 1 g of prosthesis); from the 90th day onward, it was between 0.22 ± 0.14μg (PET‐N) and 0.18 ± 0.12 μg (PET‐G) per day. The prostheses were incubated with Staphylococcus aureus (S.a.), Staphylococcus epidermidis (S.e.), or Escherichia coli (E.c.) to investigate in vitro antibacterial efficacy. After 6 h of incubation, no colony‐forming units were to be seen for any of the bacterial suspensions for PET with SC (p < 0.001). To investigate in vivo antibacterial efficacy, PET‐G rings with and without SC contaminated with S.a., S.e., or E.c. were implanted in 18 albino rabbits and examined 7 days after agar culture for 48 h. The silver coating was associated with a significant reduction in bacterial growth (S.a., p = 0.001; S.e., p < 0.005; E.c., p < 0.001). The silver‐coated prosthesis, with and without gelatine impregnation, had a significantly antibacterial effect with continuous release of silver. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2005