Antimicrobial Activity of Hydrophilic Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone Coated Bioflex

Kim, Woo Jin; Hellstrom, W J G; Hyun, Jae Seog

Abstract

PURPOSE
A major concern of implanting urologists is infection, which occurs in 2% to 4.5% of cases. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether a hydrophilic coating which is designed to reduce bacterial adherence, applied to an inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP), would prolong the effect of antibiotics utilized intraoperatively.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The efficacy of antibiotics-soaked Bioflex(penile prosthetic substrate material) disc with and without hydrophilic coating was examined using an in-vivo rabbit model. A total of 320 Bioflex discs were used. 160 discs were coated with hydrophilic coating, and the remaining 160 disc, which were not coated, served as controls. All discs were soaked in an aqueous solution of gentamycin and bacitracin. Each group of 16 animals contained 64 discs. Two coated and 2 uncoated Bioflex discs were implanted subcutaneously in the dorsal region of each rabbit. The implanted antibiotic-soaked discs were extracted at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 5 days following implantation, and the zone of inhibition against S. epidermidis, S. aureus, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa in vitro was determined.
RESULTS
A zone of inhibition for each of the microorganisms was present for all discs (coated and uncoated) at day 0. From day 1 to day 3, the coated discs demonstrated continued microbial inhibition against S. epidermidis compared to the uncoated discs, which did not.
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that the use of a hydrophilic coating as a penile implant coating does not reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics utilized intraoperatively. Additionally, the coated discs demonstrated a sustained antibiotics activity against S. epidermidis for at least 3 days. This effect, along with the reduced adherence properties of the hydrophilic coating, may prevent the adhesion and colonization of S. epidermidis to penile implants and thereby reduce the chance of prosthetic infection.