SILVER IONTOPHORETIC CATHETER - A PROTOTYPE OF A LONG-TERM ANTIINFECTIVE VASCULAR ACCESS DEVICE

A silver iontophoretic catheter (SIC) was developed consisting of two electrically charged parallel silver wires helically wrapped around th e proximal segment of a vascular catheter, In vitro and in vivo activi ties of this catheter were compared with those of an aseptic catheter coated with chlorhexidine and silver sulfadiazine (CH/SS). The SIC dem onstrated broad-spectrum in vitro inhibitory activity against bacteria and Candida albicans comparable to that of the CH/SS-coated catheter, The durability of activity was determined by incubating catheters in serum at 37 degrees C for various time intervals, After 30 days, the a ntimicrobial activity of the SIC did not change significantly, while t hat of the CH/SS-coated catheter was reduced to a suboptimal level, In a rabbit model, the SIC was safe and significantly more efficacious t han the CH/SS-coated catheter in preventing colonization with Staphylo coccus aureus (P < .05). The SIC has broad-spectrum inhibitory activit y of long durability and is highly efficacious in preventing colonizat ion in vivo.