Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Sep;9(9):3031-3037.
doi: 10.21037/jtd.2017.08.41.

Deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery in the Chinese population: a single-centre 15-year retrospective study

Liang Pan  1 , Ran Mo  1 , Qing Zhou  1 , Dongjin Wang  1
Affiliations

Deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery in the Chinese population: a single-centre 15-year retrospective study

Liang Pan et al. J Thorac Dis. 2017 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) is a severe complication following cardiac surgery. A retrospective study was implemented to determine the risks and clinical characteristics of DSWI after cardiac operation in the Chinese population.

Methods: We analysed 7,944 consecutive patients who underwent cardiac surgery via median sternotomy from January 2002 to December 2016 at our institution. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for DSWI.

Results: A total of 106 patients (1.33%) suffered from DSWI; significant risk factors included body mass index (BMI) (P=0.02; OR=1.08; 95% CI: 1.01-1.16) and reoperation (P<0.01; OR=5.93; 95% CI: 2.88-12.25). The most common bacterium involved in DSWI was staphylococcus aureus (23%). Among all DSWI patients, the overall survival rate of the group treated with flap reconstruction was significantly higher than that in the group treated with intravenous antibiotics and sternal debridement (87% vs. 59%, P=0.01).

Conclusions: DSWI was associated with several risk factors. Effective intervention strategies could improve the outcome of patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Keywords: Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI); median sternotomy; mediastinitis; wound infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient selection. DSWI, deep sternal wound infection.
Figure S1
Figure S1
The association between BMI and survival rate of DSWI. BMI, body mass index; DSWI, deep sternal wound infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Peivandi AA, Kasper-Konig W, Quinkenstein E, et al. Risk factors influencing the outcome after surgical treatment of complicated deep sternal wound complications. Cardiovasc Surg 2003;11:207-12. 10.1016/S0967-2109(03)00006-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Floros P, Sawhney R, Vrtik M, et al. Risk factors and management approach for deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery at a tertiary medical centre. Heart Lung Circ 2011;20:712-7. 10.1016/j.hlc.2011.08.001 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schimmer C, Sommer SP, Bensch M, et al. Management of poststernotomy mediastinitis: experience and results of different therapy modalities. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2008;56:200-4. 10.1055/s-2008-1038386 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sjögren J, Nilsson J, Gustafsson R, et al. The impact of vacuum-assisted closure on long-term survival after post-sternotomy mediastinitis. Ann Thorac Surg 2005;80:1270-5. 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2005.04.010 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kubota H, Miyata H, Motomura N, et al. Deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery. J Cardiothorac Surg 2013;8:132. 10.1186/1749-8090-8-132 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources