Prevalence of Sternal Wound Infections and Saphenous Harvesting Site Infection in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

Introduction: Surgical site infection is a risky complication following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery that may increase mortality and morbidity. Hence, it seems that further investigation regarding this complication may be necessary, in order to improve prevention and treatment processes. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of sternal wound infection and saphenous vein wound infection in patients undergoing CABG and its correlation with the determinants. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that was undertaken from 2015 to 2019 on 2459 patients undergoing CABG surgery with off-pump and on-pump methods. Demographic and background information of our patients were recorded. After infection, secretions were sampled and cultured.Results: Results of the study showed that the frequency of sternal and saphenous harvesting site infection in patients was 3.7% (n=91), and these infections were often diagnosed two weeks after surgery (50 patients, 54.9%). Age and sex were identified as two significant risk factors of surgical site infection after CABG surgery (p=0.0001). Most patients came back with an infection two weeks after surgery (54.9%). Gram-positive bacteria had the greatest role in infection (35.2%) with Staphylococcus epidermidis acting as the predominant strain (n=13).Discussion and Conclusion: The results suggested that two factors with a crucial role in the incidence of infection, are female gender and age of 50-60 years old. Diabetes, previously identified in the literature as a risk factor for surgical site infection, did not have a significant effect in this study and further research is warranted.