Sternal abscess may occur in cardiac surgeon patients after open surgery. Due to the high risk of recurrence of the complication with the classical treatment method and the extremely long recovery period, doctors started to develop alternative approaches. Petrovsky Ivan Vinokurov.
The classical method assumes that all the sutures are removed from the wound, after which it is washed with antiseptics. Bacteriological cultures are taken from the patient and antibiotics are prescribed according to the results obtained. All this takes from 3-4 weeks to several months. After two sterile grafts, the bone is reattached and the wound is sutured. There are cases of repeated traumatic decomposition of the half of the sternum. Treatment starts over.
“We started looking for alternative approaches. Immediately after the first signs of a problem appear, we surgically remove the bony and soft tissues of the sternum from biofilm (bacterial plaque). After that, we straighten the bone, and then necessarily cover this area with a biologically well-nourished tissue, either from the inner surface of the chest or from the outer surface of the chest,” explained Vinokurov.
Surgeons use the greater omentum, pectoralis major muscles, or back muscles taken from the abdomen as replacement tissue.
“When the case is neglected, we have to remove the bone and a hard fixation can no longer be a question. Then we replace this bone with muscles. Muscle tissue has one peculiarity: over time it grows well and becomes fibrous, becoming rather rigid, like a tendon. In addition, the muscles are well supplied with blood and the antibiotics we have chosen penetrate directly to the source of infection,” he said.
With the classical method, the patient stays in the clinic for about two months. The alternative allows you to reduce this time to three weeks. The number of recurrences also decreased.
Learn more about the complication, how common it is after heart surgery, the most advanced type of surgery today, and an app to calculate the probability of post-operative complications. report Vinokurov “socialbites.ca”.
Previously recognizedWhat level of sugar is dangerous for the heart.