Sternal wrapping: developments and results

Background:Postoperative sternal wound complications are infrequent events that negatively affect recovery and may have serious consequences. Sternal wrapping, a technique of sternal care, has hemostatic properties without bone wax, and offers mechanical and microbiologic protection.Methods:From February 1998 to December 2011, 258 patients in 2 Italian institutions underwent various cardiac surgery procedures with sternal wrapping in place, and were followed up for no less then 6 months.Results:Two (0.8%) extremely compromised patients with ischemic sternal osteonecrosis and deep sternal wound infection required a sternal stabilizing procedure. Four (2%) other patients developed sternal wound complications that were treated entirely medically; 3 of them were very trivial, and 1 was an atypical mediastinitis without sternal involvement. Overall, 46.1% of patients (45.3% of isolated coronary artery bypass, 49.3% of isolated on-pump coronary artery bypass, and 18.2% of off-pump coronary artery bypass patient...