Does using Jackson-Pratt drain affect the incidence of sternal wound complications after open cardiac surgery?

Abstract

Background: This study aims to investigate the effect of theJackson-Pratt drain on sternal wound complications in patients witha Body Mass Index of ≥30 kg/m2 undergoing open cardiac surgeryvia median sternotomy.Methods: A total of 174 patients (124 males, 50 females; mean age58.2±10.4 years; range, 33 to 78 years) with a Body Mass Indexof ≥30 kg/m2 undergoing cardiac surgery via median sternotomybetween January 2011 and December 2015 in our institutionwere retrospectively analyzed. Of the patients, 94 were inserteda Jackson-Pratt drain (JP group) following median sternotomy,while 80 patients received no drain (non-JP group). Pre-, intra, andpostoperative outcomes of both groups including type of operation,length of hospital stay, and complications were compared.Results: No significant difference in the age, gender, Body MassIndex, and potential risk factors was found between the groups. Themedian of stay in the intensive care unit was two days and the mediantime from operation to discharge was seven days in both groups. Therewas a statistically significant difference in the rate of sternal woundcomplications between the groups. Sternal wound complicationsoccurred in two patients (2.1%) in the drained group, compared to ninepatients (11.25%) in the non-drained group (p=0.01).Conclusion: Our study results show that Jackson-Pratt draininsertion after median sternotomy in patients with a Body MassIndex of ≥30 kg/m2 undergoing open cardiac surgery is a simpleand reliable method to reduce the risk of postoperative sternalwound complications, compared to the conventional closuretechnique.