Treatment outcomes of postoperative mediastinitis in cardiac surgery; negative pressure wound therapy versus conventional treatment

• Published in: Journal of cardiothoracic surgery Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 67
• Main Authors: Deniz, Hayati, Gokaslan, Gokhan, Arslanoglu, Yavuz, Ozcaliskan, Ozerdem, Guzel, Gokalp, Yasim, Alptekin, Ustunsoy, Hasim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 11-07-2012; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Aged; Antibiotics; Cardiac surgery; Cardiac Surgical Procedures - adverse effects; Female; Health aspects; Heart; Heart surgery; Homeopathy; Hospitals; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Materia medica and therapeutics; Mediastinitis - etiology; Mediastinitis - surgery; Middle Aged; Mortality; Negative pressure wound therapy; Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy - methods; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Sternal wound infection; Surgery; Surgical Wound Infection - surgery; Therapeutics; Treatment Outcome; Turkey; Wound healing; Turkey
• ISSN: 1749-8090; 1749-8090
• DOI: 10.1186/1749-8090-7-67

The aim of the present study is to compare negative pressure wound therapy versus conventional treatment outcomes at postoperative mediastinitis after cardiac surgery.
Between January 2000 and December 2011, after 9972 sternotomies, postoperative mediastinitis was diagnosed in 90 patients. The treatment modalities divided the patients into two groups: group 1 patients (n = 47) were initially treated with the negative pressure wound therapy and group 2 patients (n = 43) were underwent conventional treatment protocols. The outcomes were investigated with Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, Student's test and Fisher's exact test.
The 90-days mortality was found significantly lower in the negative pressure wound group than in the conventionally treated group. Overall survival was significantly better in the negative pressure wound group than in the conventionally treated group.
Negative pressure wound therapy is safe and reliable option in mediastinitis after cardiac surgery, with excellent survival and low failure rate when compared with conventional treatments.