Sex-Associated Differences in Short-Term Outcomes in Patients with Deep Sternal Wound Infection after Open-Heart Surgery

Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) is a feared complication after cardiac surgery. The impact of sex-related differences on wound infection prevalence is poorly understood. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of sex on short-term outcomes in patients with DSWI after open-heart surgery. The study was a retrospective cohort study. A total of 217 patients with DSWI were identified and retrospectively analyzed using our institutional database. Patients were divided into two groups: males ( = 150) and females ( = 67). This study also includes a propensity score based matching (PSM) analysis (male group ( = 62) and female group ( = 62)) to examine the unequal groups. Mean age ( = 0.088) and mean body mass index (BMI) ( = 0.905) did not significantly differ between both groups. Vacuum assisted closure (VAC) therapy was performed among most patients (82.3% (male group) vs. 83.9% (female group), = 0.432). The most commonly isolated bacteria from the wounds were Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus in both groups. Acute renal failure was significantly higher ( = 0.010) in the male group compared to the female group. However, dialysis rate did not significantly differ ( = 0.491) between male and female groups. Further secondary outcomes showed no major differences between the groups. Likewise, in-hospital mortality rate did not differ significantly ( = 0.680) between both groups. Based on our data, sex has no impact on deep wound infection prevalence after cardiac surgery.