Effective interventions in prevention of mediastinitis following cardio- thoracic surgeries: A literature review

The aim of this article is to review studies that have evaluated effective interventions in the prevention of mediastinitis following cardiothoracic surgery.

Mediastinitis and deep surgical wound infections (DSWI) are life-threatening complications of median sternotomy and have a prevalence of 0.4-5 percent. They can produce a significant financial burden on the patient and also the health care system by prolonging the hospitalization period and the need for repeated surgeries or long-term antibiotics. Several risk factors have been identified for mediastinitis following cardiothoracic surgery, many of which are easily preventable by proper diagnosis.

. In this literature review, databases including PubMed, Medline, UpToDate, Scopus, Science Direct, SID, and Magiran were searched out using the keywords Mediastinitis, Prevention, Cardiothoracic surgery, and their Persian equivalents. Persian and English original articles (including cross-sectional, case- control, cohort studies, and clinical trials) investigating the effective interventions in the prevention of me- diastinitis following cardiothoracic surgeries and were published between 2000 and 2021 and had an available full text, were included in the current study; review articles, letter to editors, and case reports published in non-authoritative journals were excluded from this study. After primary search, 62 relevant articles were found and based on inclusion/exclusion criteria, 16 articles were finally selected and reviewed in the cur- rent study.

Mediastinitis ca n be prevented before surgery by hand hygiene, weight loss, smoking cessa-tion, proper prophylactic antibiotics, decolonization of nasopharynx and oropharynx from Staph aureus by Mupirocin ointment, and removing hair using depilatory cream (not the blade). Tight blood glucose monitoring before, after, and during the surgery, disinfection of the surgical field by chlorhexidine, using a proper surgical technique for wound closure and stabilizing the sternum, and proper patient training by nurses about red flags of infection can play an important role in the prevention of mediastinitis.

  Mediastinitis ca n be easily prevented by identifying its risk factors and controlling them accurately and in a timely manner.