INCIDENCE OF DEEP AND SUPERFICIAL STERNAL INFECTION AFTER OPEN-HEART-SURGERY - A 10-YEARS RETROSPECTIVE STUDY FROM 1981 TO 1991

Between January 1981 and December 1991, 4137 adult patients underwent various cardiac procedures via a median sternotomy under cardiopulmona ry bypass. The overall infection rate was 1.33%, including superficial wound infections (SWI) (1.18%) and deep sternal infection (DSI) (0.14 5%). Pericardial and retrosternal suction drains with a vent allowed a better drainage of blood and serosities and probably contributed to o ur low DSI rate. Eleven factors predisposing to infection were evaluat ed by Fisher's exact test. Only the operative urgency (P=0.006), reexp loration for bleeding (P=0.00001) and preoperative renal failure (P=0. 0005) were statistically significant. Twenty of our infected patients had no risk factors for infection, When the risk factors described in the literature were applied to our infected patients, only one had no risk factor.