Mission & Objectives


Implants are used in most surgical specialities, including orthopaedic surgery and traumatology, neurosurgery, cardio-vascular surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, visceral surgery, urology, maxillofacial surgery and other medical and dental specialities. Despite advances in material design and biocompatibility, implant-associated infections remain one of the most feared and difficult to treat complications, causing high morbidity, considerably mortality and consume healthcare costs resulting in patient restriction from work and compromise their social life. These infections have several specific aspects, in particular that they are difficult to detect and difficult to treat due to the presence of biofilms on the implant surface. Understanding of biofilms under in vitro conditions and in experimental setting has improved in the last decade. However, many unresolved clinical challenges exist in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases dealing with implant-associated infections. Therefore, an inte disciplinary collaboration is critical in the creation of a scientific forum, which can address these challenges.

The problem of implant-associated infections will continue to increase due to the following factors:

  • increasing array of new implants, inserted in the intravascular and extravascular body sites
  • life-long risk of infection by hematogenous and contiguous route
  • increasing incidence of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance
  • increasing number of patients with severe comorbidities and immunosuppression
  • implantation not only in elderly people but also in young, otherwise healthy people, in order to replace a missing anatomic structure or biological function