• Michael Gorlitzer, Florian Wagner, Steffen Pfeiffer, Sandra Folkmann, Johann Meinhart, Theodor Fischlein, Hermann Reichenspurner, and Martin Grabenwöger.
• Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hospital Hietzing, Vienna, Austria. michael.gorlitzer@wienkav.at
• Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2010 May 1; 10 (5): 714-8.

AbstractSternal instability, dehiscence and mediastinitis are major causes of morbidity and mortality in cardiac surgery. The aim of this analysis is to determine the effect of a Posthorax support vest (Epple Inc, Vienna, Austria) after median sternotomy. One thousand five hundred and sixty cases were included in a prospective randomized multicenter trial. Patients were randomized as follows: 905 received a flexible dressing postoperatively (group A) and 655 patients were given a Posthorax support vest (group B). Patients in groups A and B were well matched. Their mean age was 68 years (range: 34-87 years). The patient characteristics and operative data were equally distributed in both groups. The mean total hospital stay was significantly shorter in group B than in group A (A: 17.33+/-17.5; B: 14.76+/-7.7; P=0.04). Sternal wound complications necessitating reoperation during the 90 days follow-up period were observed in 4.5%. Reoperation rates were as follows: 3.9% in group A and 0.6% in group B (P<0.05). The use of the Posthorax sternum support vest is a valuable adjunct to prevent sternum-related complications after cardiac surgery. In the 90 days follow-up period, additional surgical procedures were significantly reduced by the use of the support vest.2010 Published by European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

31 keywords...

hide…