A retrospective analysis of deep sternal wound infections after longitudinal median sternotomy

Median sternotomy is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in the treatment of heart conditions in both adults and children. Deep sternal wound infections (DSWI) present a serious complication occurring after surgery, highly demanding both of patients and surgery departments. The present study is a retrospective analysis of 9110 patients who underwent a cardiac surgery at the Center of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantations, Brno, Czech Republic, in the years 2005–12, and as its objective it has a definition of risk factors of DSWI after median sternotomy.In this study, a multivariate analysis found sepsis to be the most serious risk factor, in addition to harvesting of the mammary artery (to be used as a graft for revascularisation), haemodynamic instability, reintubation and male sex.