Incidence and Outcomes of Bloodstream Infection After Arterial Aneurysm Repair: Findings From a Population-Based Study

BACKGROUND: Limited research has focused on bloodstream infection (BSI) in patients with arterial grafts. This study aims to describe the incidence and outcomes of BSI after arterial aneurysm repair in a population-based cohort. METHODS: The expanded Rochester Epidemiology Project (e-REP) was used to analyze aneurysm repairs in adults (aged ≥18 years) residing in 8 counties in southern Minnesota from January 2010 to December 2020. Electronic records were reviewed for the first episode of BSI following aneurysm repair. BSI patients were assessed for vascular graft infection (VGI) and followed for all-cause mortality. RESULTS: During the study, 643 patients had 706 aneurysm repairs: 416 endovascular repairs (EVARs) and 290 open surgical repairs (OSRs). Forty-two patients developed BSI during follow-up. The 5-year cumulative incidence of BSI was 4.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.0%–6.4%), with rates of 4.0% (95% CI, 1.8%–6.2%) in the EVAR group and 5.8% (95% CI, 2.9%–8.6%) in the OSR group (P = .052). Thirty-nine (92.9%) BSI cases were monomicrobial, 33 of which were evaluated for VGI. VGI was diagnosed in 30.3% (10/33), accounting for 50.0% (8/16) of gram-positive BSI cases compared to 11.8% (2/17) of gram-negative BSI cases (P = .017). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year cumulative post-BSI all-cause mortality rates were 22.2% (95% CI, 8.3%–34.0%), 55.8% (95% CI, 32.1%–71.2%), and 76.8% (95% CI, 44.3%–90.3%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of BSI following aneurysm repair was overall low. VGI was more common with gram-positive compared to gram-negative BSI. All-cause mortality following BSI was high, which may be attributed to advanced age and significant comorbidities in our cohort.