Collagen as a drug carrier for deep sternal wound infection after open heart surgery.

How to optimally treat deep sternal wound infection after open wound infection remains controversial. Biomaterial advances have made local antibiotics-releasing systems a promising alternative for treating deep sternal wound infection. Two patients with deep sternal wound complications were treated with radical wound debridement, sternal refixation, retrosternal suction drainage, bilateral pectoralis major muscle flaps and placement of collagenous drug carriers loaded with vancomycin underneath, above and between the sternal edges. No treatment failure and death occurred in these patients. There were no side effects, treatment failures or deaths after adjuvant treatment with collagenous vancomycin. Preliminary results of these 2 case studies demonstrate the feasibility of successfully treating deep sternal wound infections with collagenous vancomycin in combination with surgical debridement. This technique is easily performed, reliable and safe.