A 68-year-old man presented with destruction of his sternum after cardiac surgery. Classical management with multiple debridements, vacuum dressings and antibiotics failed. A replacement of his sternum was performed using an antibiotic-loaded porous alumina ceramic sternum. Despite the infected wound, the ceramic sternum did not get infected due to the high antibiotic concentration obtained locally. Two years after the surgery, no relapse occurred and the pulmonary function tests improved.
Keywords: Alumina; Antibiotic loaded; Deep sternal wound infection; Mediastinitis; Pulmonary function tests; Sternum.
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.