Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2025 Jan 14. doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000004726. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a significant complication following pediatric cardiovascular surgery. Although drain tip cultures (DTC) are sometimes used postoperatively to predict SSIs, their diagnostic value in pediatric cardiovascular surgery remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the diagnostic utility of DTC for predicting SSIs in pediatric cardiovascular surgery patients.
METHODS: This retrospective, single-center cohort study was conducted at a tertiary children’s hospital in Japan. We analyzed DTC and SSI data from pediatric patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery between December 2014 and August 2018. Demographic and clinical information was collected, and the incidence of SSIs was compared between patients with positive and negative DTC results.
RESULTS: A total of 555 samples from 254 patients were analyzed. DTC was positive in 70 samples (12.6%), and 27 patients (10.6%) had at least 1 positive DTC. The most frequently isolated organism was Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 44), followed by Candida parapsilosis (n = 8), Staphylococcus lugdunensis (n = 4) and Staphylococcus aureus (n = 3). Twenty patients (7.9%) developed SSIs. The SSI rate was not significantly higher in patients with positive DTC compared with those with negative DTC (14.8% vs. 6.6%, P = 0.13). Only 2 cases showed concordance between the organisms detected in DTC and those responsible for SSIs.
CONCLUSIONS: The study found that positive DTC was not significantly associated with SSI occurrence after pediatric cardiovascular surgery. Therefore, routine culture of drainage tube tips may not be necessary unless there are clinical signs of infection. Further research is needed to evaluate the role of DTC in specific high-risk scenarios.
PMID:39823637 | DOI:10.1097/INF.0000000000004726
