Negative-pressure sternal wound closure with interrupted subcuticular suturing and a subcutaneous drain tube reduces the incidence of poststernotomy wound infection after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery

Purposes To retrospectively evaluate the effect of negative-pressure sternal wound closure (NPSWC) with a subcutaneous closed drain tube on the sternal surgical site infection (SSI) incidence. Methods After propensity score matching of 231 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), we compared 104 pairs in the NPSWC and historical control groups. In the molecular analysis, the interleukin-6 (IL-6), basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF), and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) levels in the wound fluid were measured using two different reservoir types at postoperative days 2 and 7. Results NPSWC significantly reduced the SSI incidence from 10.6 to 2.9%. No mediastinitis occurred in the NPSWC group. A multivariate logistic regression analysis identified female sex (p = 0.0040) and no NPSWC (p = 0.0084) as significant risk factors for sternal SSI development. The Negative-pressure value was 49.4 +/- 4.1 and 115.5 +/- 15.2 mmHg in the standard-type (SSR) and bulb-type suction reservoirs (BSR), respectively. Given that growth factors were affected by the difference in negative pressure, the IL-6, b-FGF, and TGF-beta 1 levels were significantly higher in the BSR than in the SSR. Conclusions NPSWC using a subcutaneous closed drain tube was effective in preventing sternal SSI after CABG and may accelerate wound healing even when both internal thoracic arteries are harvested. Clinical registration number University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry, registration number: UMIN000037060.