Plastic Surgery Involvement With Surgical Management of Infected Ventricular Assist Devices Decreased Lifetime Return to Operating Room and 90-Day Infectious Complications.

Background: The use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) for patients with end-stage cardiac failure awaiting heart transplantation has become increasingly common. However, ventricular assist device-related infections remain a major problem complicating their long-term use. Retrospective review has previously shown a decrease in lifetime return to operating room (RTOR) with no change in 90-day complications when a muscle or omental flap is used for coverage after washout for infection. We wished to determine if early plastic surgery intervention led to a decreased length of stay for these patients.

Methods: Patients with LVAD readmitted for LVAD infection at a single institution from 2008 to 2021 were identified using a preexisting database. Patients were followed retrospectively for an average of 3.2 years. Patient demographics, preoperative diagnosis/disease state, type of ventricular assist device inserted, postoperative day of ventricular assist device infection onset, definitive device coverage, timing of coverage procedure after the initial washout for infection, type of flap used for coverage, 90-day complications after definitive coverage, and lifetime return to operating room for infection were reviewed. Comparison analysis with χ2 and analysis of variance testing was used to analyze outcomes.

Results: Of 568 patients admitted with an LVAD infection, 104 underwent operative debridement and closure by plastic and reconstructive surgery (PRS) or cardiothoracic surgery (CTS). Fifty-three underwent PRS closure, and 51 underwent CTS closure. There was an increased incidence of diabetes among the PRS group (P < 0.001); otherwise, there was no difference in baseline characteristics. There was increased RTOR over a lifetime with CTS closure compared with PRS (P = 0.03) and increased 90-day risk of infection (P = 0.007). Patients with PRS closure had an increased risk of postoperative hematoma (P = 046). Plastic and reconstructive surgery was typically consulted on hospital day 10. Both PRS and CTS closure patients were discharged on postoperative day 7, on average (P = 0.542).

Conclusions: Plastic surgery involvement with surgical decision making and closure of infected LVAD devices has a decrease in lifetime RTOR and decreased 90-day complications related to infections. There may be a benefit to earlier PRS consultation for coverage assessment.