Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. 2018, 162(4):263-271 | DOI: 10.5507/bp.2018.053

From open packing to negative wound pressure therapy. A critical overview of deep sternal wound infection treatment strategies after cardiac surgery

Martin Simeka,b, Adam Chudobab, Roman Hajeka, Patrick Tobbiac, Martin Molitord, Petr Nemece
a Department of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital Olomouc, Czech Republic
b Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic
c Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Regional Medical Center, 624 Hospital Drive, Mountain Home, United States
d Department of Plastic Surgery, Hospital Na Bulovce, Prague, Czech Republic
e Centre for Cardiovascular and Transplant Surgery, Brno, Czech Republic

Deep sternal wound infection is a challenging aspect of modern cardiac surgery. The considerable mortality rate, devastating morbidity and, negative impact on long-term survival has driven cardiac and plastic surgeons to seek a more advantageous treatment solution. This review summarizes progress in the field of deep sternal wound infection treatment after cardiac surgery. Emphasis is placed on outcomes analysis of contemporary treatment strategy based on negative pressure wound therapy followed by sternotomy wound reconstruction, and its comparison with conventional treatment modalities used afore. Furthermore, complications and drawbacks of treatment strategies are critically evaluated to outline current options for successfully managing this life-threatening complication following cardiac surgery

Keywords: sternal wound infection, conventional treatment, pressure wound therapy

Received: April 23, 2018; Accepted: September 5, 2018; Prepublished online: September 14, 2018; Published: November 14, 2018  Show citation

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Simek, M., Chudoba, A., Hajek, R., Tobbia, P., Molitor, M., & Nemec, P. (2018). From open packing to negative wound pressure therapy. A critical overview of deep sternal wound infection treatment strategies after cardiac surgery. Biomedical papers, 162(4), 263-271. doi: 10.5507/bp.2018.053
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