Adhesion of bacteria to stainless steel and silver-coated orthopedic external fixation pins

Bacterial adhesion to silver-coated orthopedic external fixation pins was compared with stainless steel controls in an in vitro study. Using five bacterial isolates from wound infections, the silver coating was found to reduce adhesion for Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and two strains of Staphylococcus aureus while the converse applied for Staphylococcus haemolyticus. When placed in human serum, both surfaces were conditioned to a similar extent with serum proteins; this conditioning lead to further reductions in bacterial adhesion, ultimately approaching similar levels for both stainless steel and silver-coated samples. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.