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EWMA2008
Presented at the
18 th Conference
of the European
Wound Management
Association,
14-16 May 2008,
Lisbon, Portugal
Topical negative pressure
versus conventional treatment of
deep sternal wound infection
in cardiac surgery
Abstract
Background: Deep sternal wound infection is a
devastating, potentially life-threatening complication
following cardiac surgery. It is associated with
a significant increase in morbidity and mortality
and also with a significant utilization of hospital
resources.
Aim: We sought to compare clinical outcomes,
in-hospital mortality and 1-year survival of two
different treatment modalities of deep sternal
wound infection - topical negative pressure and
conventional therapy.
Methods: Prospective analysis of 62 consecutive
patients treated for deep sternal infection at our
institution. A total of 28 patients (February 2002
through October 2004) underwent conventional
treatment and 34 patients (November 2004
through October 2007) underwent the application
of topical negative pressure. Clinical and
wound care outcomes of both treatment strategies
– focusing on therapeutic failure rate in-hospital
and 1-year mortality – were compared.
Results: Topical negative pressure was associated
with a significant lower failure rate of the primary
therapy (p