Treatment of sternum osteomyelitis secondary to heart surgery by pedicled rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap

    ZHANG Shaoª²Ming, TAO Hongª²Wei, X Xiaoª²Ping, ZHANG Heng

    1Department of Thoracic Surgery, 2Department of Plastic Surgery, PLA 455th Hospital, Shanghai 200052, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To explore the treatment of complicated sternum osteomyelitis after midª²sternal thoracotomy. METHODS: Five patients with complicated sternum osteomyelitis following midª²sternal thoracotomy had resection of sternum and part of costal cartilage. The surface of the wound was repaired by pedicled rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap. RESULTS: All the flaps lived quite well without necrosis. Four patients got primary healing and one was cured after a second dermatoplasty. CONCLUSION: Complete resection of infected sternum plus transposition of pedicled rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap is effective for the treatment of sternum osteomyelitis secondary to open heart surgery, which will not affect the respiratory function even if the resection margin goes to the sternal angle. ......