The use of vacuum therapy in wound healing after cardiac surgery

Introduction
Infection of the surgical site (SSI) is a serious medical problem, prolong the hospitalization time and increases the cost of treatment. Negative pressure therapy used to treat wounds after sternotomy is a method commonly used in cardiac surgery. The main aim of the study was to analyze cases of surgical site infection after cardiac surgery treated with negative pressure therapy.

Material and methods
The study involved 39 patients who underwent negative pressure therapy after cardiac surgery to treat sternal wound inection. The study was retrospective. It was carried out on the basis of medical records analysis. The collected data concerned the sociodemographic characteristics of the group, assessment of the clinical situation, duration of use of negative pressure therapy and time of hospitalization. The results are presented in descriptive and graphic form.

Results
The most common pathogen causing wound infection was Staphylococcus epidermidis andpercentage was 67% of all bacterial strains detected in swab cultures in sternotomy wound. Symptoms of wound infection appeared on average 18.79 days from the beginning of hospitalization. The time to onset of symptoms varied significantly depending on the subjects’ sex (p = 0.00022). In the group of patients with wound infection after cardiac surgery, patients hospitalized and operated on an urgent basis predominated, however, thetime of using vacuum therapy was significantly longer in patients hospitalized in elective mode (p = 0.028). The average duration of therapy in the analyzed cases was 17.61 days. a strong relationship was observed between the length of hospitalization andthe duration of vacuum therapy. In the postoperative course, patients with wound infection had reduced hemoglobin in 97% of patients and hypoproteinemia in 59% of patients.

Conclusions
Infection of the surgical site occurred significantly earlier in men. The time of using vacuum therapy was significantly longer in the group of patients hospitalized in elective mode. Thetime of hospitalization was significantly correlated with the time of using vacuum therapy. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common pathogen causing wound infection.