Risk factors for radial artery harvest site infection following coronary artery bypass craft surgery

Radial arteries increasingly are used during coronary artery bypass graft ( CABG) surgery. Although risk factors for saphenous vein harvest site infect ion (HSI) have been reported, rates of and risk factors for radial artery H SI are not well established. We compared rates of radial artery HSI that we re detected by 2 surveillance methods, regular and heightened. Risk factors were determined by a case-control study. We identified 35 radial artery HS Is ("case sites") in 26 case patients. The radial artery HSI rate was signi ficantly higher during heightened surveillance than during routine surveill ance (12.3% vs. 3.1%, respectively; P = .002). Multivariate analysis showed that diabetes mellitus with a preoperative glucose level greater than or e qual to 200 mg/dL (odds ratio [OR], 4.4; P = .01) and duration of surgery g reater than or equal to 5 h (OR, 3.1; P = .02) were independent risk factor s for radial artery HSI. Infection is a common complication of radial arter y harvesting for CABG surgery, and infection rates are dependent on the int ensity of surveillance. We identified preoperative hyperglycemia and surger y duration as independent risk factors for radial artery HSI.