This case series, performed by the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery at our institution, reports the management of sternal wound dehiscence in newborns and children after cardiac surgery with the help of a negative pressure wound therapy treatment system. Three neonatal patients with poststernotomy wound problems were treated with a negative pressure wound therapy (VAC) system. Negative pressure therapy was started with negative pressure at 50 mm Hg, continuously. All children achieved healing of the sternal wound and a subsequent closure after a mean length of treatment of 33 days (range, 21-49 days). In conclusion, negative pressure therapy with pressure adjusted to lower values as compared with adults in combination with radical surgical debridement was found to be safe and effective, as well as being tolerated well in neonatal and infant patients with extensive or localized poststernotomy wound dehiscence.
Keywords: Chest Wall Defects; Congenital Heart Disease; Infants; Neonates; Sternal Dehiscence.
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