Emerging Trends in Mediastinitis: National Veterans Health Administration Experience with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Prevention

Objectives Perioperative bacterial decolonization and prophylactic antibiotic therapy at the Veterans Affairs Health Care System have changed over the past decade. Our objectives were to identify associated changes in the microbiology of mediastinitis and to perform a contemporary survival analysis in patients with mediastinitis after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting procedure. Methods From January 2006 to December 2015, 45,323 consecutive patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting at 83 medical centers. The Veterans Affairs Health Care System nationwide administrative database was queried to identify patients with postoperative mediastinitis and obtain patient-level data. Simple descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were used to analyze microbiologic data and identify risk factors for infection. Poisson regression was used to determine yearly incidence estimates. Cox proportional hazard model identified predictors of long-term survival from date of operation. Results During the study period, 348 patients (0.78%) developed postoperative mediastinitis—with a stable rate of incidence (Cochrane-Armitage test, P = .69). Of patients with microbiologic data, 75.5% of infections (n = 188) were caused by gram-positive and 24.5% (n = 61) gram-negative organisms. The incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus mediastinitis decreased during the study period (Cochrane-Armitage test, P = .013). Gram-negative mediastinitis occurred earlier than gram-positive mediastinitis (median, 15.0 vs 25.0 days; P < .0001). Patients with mediastinitis did not have increased 30-day mortality (2.0% vs 1.9%; P = .9), but had worse long-term survival compared with uninfected patients (P < .0001). Conclusions The incidence of methicillin-resistant S aureus mediastinitis has decreased over the past decade. Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for 1 in 4 cases of mediastinitis and infection is diagnosed earlier in the postoperative period than gram-positive mediastinitis. These findings highlight the need for efforts to prevent gram-negative and methicillin-susceptible S aureus mediastinitis.