Evaluation of the original sealant with antibacterial effect for synthetic vascular grafts

Background: Vascular graft infection is a severe cardiovascular complication with high mortality rates. Antibacterial vascular graft coatings are widely used and continue to be improved. Objective: To develop a sealant with antimicrobial effect for Dacron vascular grafts and experimentally test the coating properties. Methods: We used 2 types of vascular grafts: graft No. 1 (plain weave) with initial water permeability of 78.8 ± 2.7 mL/cm2/min and graft No. 2 (2/1 twill + 6/4 satin weave) with water permeability of 549.8 ± 20.7 mL/cm2/min. We developed an original gelatin impregnation technique, tested it using a scanning electron microscopy, and measured water permeability and kink radius. We evaluated the antibacterial activity of vancomycin and gelatin impregnation by the disk diffusion test using media with Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and measured inhibition zones after 24-hour incubation. We used samples cut out of grafts with vancomycin-containing (experimental group) and no vancomycin-containing (control group) impregnation. Results: The gelatin coating of the samples is visualized as a thin even film and provides zero water permeability. On the negative side, it increased stiffness and the kink radius. Thanks to vancomycin added to the coating, bacterial growth significantly inhibits: the mean diameter of the growth inhibition zone for Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis was 15.60 ± 0.65 and 14.40 ± 0.66 mm, respectively. The grafts untreated with vancomycin showed no growth inhibition zones. Conclusion: Vascular graft treatment with gelatin impregnation and vancomycin solution is a simple measure to prevent the growth of gram-positive bacteria on vascular grafts.