Mediastinitis after heart valve surgeries: integrative review

Abstract

Mediastinitis is an infection of the connective tissue of the mediastinum that is poorly studied in patients undergoing heart valve repair surgeries. The objective of this study was to identify in the literature the evidence related to mediastinitis in patients undergoing heart valve repair surgeries. An integrative review was performed with searches in five electronic databases, namely: LILACS, PubMed, Scopus, EBSCOhost and Web of Science. According to the established criteria, were included four articles for analysis. They all had aspects about mediastinitis, such as: preoperative mortality predictors, intraoperative material contamination, and surgical approach technique. Studies focused specifically on the occurrence of mediastinitis in these patients can instrumentalize the health team and improve the implementation of clinical practice actions by preventing complications.