[Poststernotomy mediastinitis treated by omental transfer--successful management of 2 cases]

Two patients, who had developed poststernotomy mediastinitis, underwent sternal bone debridement and omental transfer. Their previous cardiac operations were bilateral internal mammary artery-coronary artery bypass and triple valve replacement, respectively. Although their infections had been sustained even with open wound packing and irrigation, complete healing was achieved by omental transposition in both cases. From these results, omental transposition seem to be a very effective method of treatment for this serious and life-threatening complication.