Sternotomy with electrocautery and sternal wound infection in congenital heart surgery in patients under 1 year of age.

Çeli K, Mehmet; Aygün, Fatih; Özkan, Murat

OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to compare the rate of wound site infection in patients <1 year of age who underwent sternotomy using electrocautery, a routinely performed procedure in our clinic, with those reported in the literature. METHODS This double-center study included patients <1 year of age who underwent cardiac surgery via sternotomy performed with electrocautery for congenital heart disease between January 2017 and June 2019. Patient's data were retrospectively obtained from the hospital records. RESULTS In our study, seven patients developed SSI, which was superficial in six (1.3%) patients and in the form of mediastinitis in one (0.2%) patient. CONCLUSION Sternotomy with electrocautery, which we consider an easy and safe method, was also not found to be statistically different from the other methods in terms of SWI.