Risk factors for wound infection development in patients after median sternotomy

More than 53,000 open heart and thoracic aortic surgeries are performed annually in the Russian Federation. The main access for these operations is the median sternotomy. The aim of the study was to assess risk factors and their influence on wound infection development in patients after median sternotomy. Materials and Methods. Fifty-eight patients were enrolled in a retrospective, and prospective study. All patients were divided into two groups comparable by sex and age. Group 1 included 28 patients with sternal infection in the early postoperative period, Group 2 consisted of 30 patients without purulent-inflammatory complications of a sternal wound. Results. Diabetes mellitus, obesity, generalized atherosclerosis and their combination are more common in patients with purulent-inflammatory wound complications in comparison with patients of Group 2. The abovementioned diseases are respectively 3.2; 2.9; 2.4; 5.4 times as frequent as in Group 2 (p