Predictors of Prolonged Hospitalization in Modified Sternoplasty following Postoperative Mediastinitis - The 68th Annual Conference of the Israel Heart Society in association with the Israel Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Mattan Arazi ^3,4 Liza Grosman-Rimon ^1,2 Shachar Yehezkeel ^1,2,3 Jordan Rimon ⁵ Jacob Gohari ⁴ Sagi Gleitman ¹ Erez Kachel ^1,2,3

¹Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and Surgery, B Padeh Medical Center, Israel
²The Azriely Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
³Department of Cardiothoracic surgery, Leviev Heart Center, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
⁴The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
⁵Faculty of Health, York University, Canada

Background
Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) with sternal dehiscence and exposed heart and great vessels is a serious complication following cardiac surgery, and requires early intervention as any delay in diagnosis and management may lead to increased morbidity and mortality. DSWI is associated with increased length of hospitalization (LOH) and economic burden in this patient population. The Modified Sternoplasty surgery is a novel surgical technique for managing this complication. The aim of this study was to determine predictors for increased length of hospitalization in patients who underwent the Modified Sternoplasty for deep sternal wound infection following cardiac surgery.
Methods
A retrospective study was undertaken on data from patients who underwent the Modified Sternoplasty surgery for DSWI between September 2010 and January 2020. Patients` characteristics were recorded and included medical history, type of the original heart surgery, length of hospitalizations, and risk factors including hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus and hypertension, as well as morbidity and mortality rates following the Modified Sternoplasty.
Results
68 patients underwent the Modified Sternoplasty surgery with an average length of hospitalization of 24.94 + 22.09 days. Multivariable analysis showed that only gender was considered a predictor of length of hospitalization when controlling for comorbidities, with average length of hospitalization longer for women than men (35.4 vs. 20.9, p=0.04).
Conclusion
Only female gender was associated with increased length of hospitalization in our patient cohort, with average length of hospitalization for women almost twice that of males.