Silver-Impregnated Dressing Does Not Decrease Incidence of Surgical Site Infection After Adult Cardiac Surgery.

Objective: Sternal wound infections complicate 1% to 8% of cardiac surgeries and carry significant morbidity. We investigated the utility of silver-impregnated dressing in decreasing sternal wound infections after sternotomy cases.

Methods: A single-institution cohort study was performed as part of a quality improvement trial of a new sternal dressing.