Surgical wound infection in cardiac surgery. A prospective multidisciplinary study

In an attempt to define the incidence of surgical wound complications following open heart surgery, 210 consecutive patients were included in a prospective monocentric study. All were adults with a mean age of 61 years. The different variables incriminated in pathogenesis of surgical wound infections were analyzed in order to evaluate their respective influence. No cases of mediastinitis were noted. The incidence of surgical wound infections was 5.5%. Body mass index > 25 and extensive surgical saphenous dissection in the lower extremities were the only two factors found to show as statistical significance.