Introduction:
Full median sternotomy is the preferred surgical approach for exposing
the heart in cardiac surgery. The current standard method for sternotomy
closure is wire circlage, usually referred to as the conventional
technique [1]. Most surgical studies report that early sternotomy
wound dehiscence occurs in heart surgery with an incidence from 0.5-10%
[2]. Sternal wound dehiscence is defined as the instability and
separation of both sternal halves with or without an open skin wound
infection.
There are many methods for reconstruction of median sternotomy wound
dehiscence in cardiac surgery, although the Robicsek technique is the
most common [3]. The thermoreactive nitinol clips (TRNC) system is
reported to be quite useful; however, it is not well established whether
it can be used routinely instead of established methods, such as the
Robicsek technique [4].
In this study, we conducted a retrospective review of patients at our
institution with noninfectious sternal dehiscence (NISD) after median
sternotomy who received TRNC treatment during a 10-year period. We
compared TRNC patients with and without history of failed Robicsek
repair. Our aim was to analyze the impact of previous Robicsek repair on
the treatment of sternal dehiscence with TRCN.