1. Reining in Sternal Wound Infections: The Achilles' Heel of Bilateral Internal Thoracic Artery Grafting
- Author
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Zulfiqar Qutrio Baloch, Sidra Ilyas, Rami R. Mustafa, Mohammad Adil Sheikh, M. Mujeeb Zubair, Bassman Tappuni, Aisha Zia, Umesh Sharma, Salil V. Deo, Hafiz Umair Siddiqui, Sajjad Raza, Shayan Marsia, and Marium Hasan
- Subjects
Blood Glucose ,Microbiology (medical) ,Sternum ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Heel ,Bypass grafting ,Grafting (decision trees) ,Nutritional Status ,Comorbidity ,Internal thoracic artery ,Body Mass Index ,03 medical and health sciences ,Sex Factors ,0302 clinical medicine ,Risk Factors ,medicine.artery ,medicine ,Humans ,Surgical Wound Infection ,Survival advantage ,In patient ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Coronary Artery Bypass ,Mammary Arteries ,Retrospective Studies ,Infection Control ,0303 health sciences ,030306 microbiology ,business.industry ,Chlorhexidine ,Length of Stay ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,Surgery ,Mupirocin ,surgical procedures, operative ,Infectious Diseases ,Increased risk ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Carrier State ,business ,Artery - Abstract
Background: Although the survival advantage of bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting (BITA) is well known in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), this technique has not been widely adopted. This is mainly because of the increased risk of deep sternal wound infections (DSWI) associated with its use. However, in recent years the overall risk of DSWI has decreased. This is mainly because of strategies that have been adopted to decrease the risk of these infections in patients undergoing CABG. Conclusion: In this review we identified DSWI preventive strategies and described them in detail so that their use by surgeons can be increased. This would minimize the risk of DSWI after BITA grafting and maximize the use of this highly effective surgical technique.
- Published
- 2020