CLOSED DRAINAGE USING REDON CATHETERS FOR LOCAL TREATMENT OF POSTSTERNOTOMY MEDIASTINITIS

Background. Continuous irrigation has been used worldwide for the trea tment of acute poststernotomy mediastinitis. However, its high rate of failure led to the development of new methods, among them closed drai nage with Redon catheters. Methods. We evaluated the results obtained with Redon catheters in 70 patients, and compared them to those obtain ed in 38 patients treated with continuous irrigation. Results. The two treatment groups were not different for age, type of cardiac operatio n, and initial severity of illness. Local failure of Redon catheter dr ainage occurred less frequently (20 of 38 versus 9 of 70 patients; p = 0.0001). This reduced failure rate was mainly attributable to a lower incidence of superinfections (10 of 38 versus 2 of 70 patients; p = 0 .0002), but also to a lower incidence of primary failure (10 of 38 ver sus 7 of 70 patients; p = 0.026). Mortality was significantly decrease d (15 of 38 versus 12 of 70 patients; p = 0.01). The other major advan tage of this technique was the simplicity of its use. Conclusions. The technique using Redon catheters should be considered an effective and convenient treatment of acute poststernotomy mediastinitis.