Infection of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft after urosepsis: case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Infection of endovascular abdominal aneurysm stent grafts is an uncommon but known complication. Inoculation with bacteria of the endovascular abdominal aneurysm stent graft during the actual implantation, in the periprocedural hospitalization or later due to an aortoenteric fistula, has been described in the literature. We report a case of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft infection occurring 40 months after implantation in a patient doing well up to an episode of urosepsis. In conclusion, we postulate that poor intraluminal healing of stent grafts, as observed in several explant studies, may result in a higher susceptibility to episodes of bacteremia than prosthetic vascular grafts inserted during open repair. We therefore consider the administration of prophylactic antibiotics in patients with endovascular stent grafts during periods with a likelihood of bacteremia.