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Introduction: Prosthetic materials have increased susceptibility to infectious complications. An infection resistant surface has potential clinical applications. Methods: An infection resistant surface was created by dyeing ciprofloxacin into knitted polyester (Dacron) via thermofixation. The infection resistant properties of the surface were first tested in vitro against S. aureus. Then, ciprofloxacin treated Dacron (test) and untreated Dacron (control) sections were implanted subcutaneously on the rat dorsum (n = 2) and inoculated with S. aureus (2 control segments and 2 test segments/rat). At 7 days animals were sacrificed and the implants retrieved. The implants were processed for conventional histology and examined by a blinded Pathologist. Results: In vitro, a zone of inhibition was maintained by the test segment for fourteen days, and there was no zone of inhibition for the control material. In vivo, there was purulent exudate in two of the four control implants, but no evidence of exudate on any of the four test implants. All control and test implants had copious neutrophil infiltration. All test implants demonstrated good tissue ingrowth and incorporation of Dacron fibers into a layer of granulation tissue. The control segments had poor tissue ingrowth and less granulation tissue than the test segments. Conclusions: Ciprofloxacin thermofixation into knitted Dacron produces an infection-resistant surface that does not inhibit tissue ingrowth, a result seen by other infection-resistant strategies. This material could be used in the creation of infection resistant implantable materials and devices. more...