Dressings used to prevent surgical site infection in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery: integrative review.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and describe which dressings are recommended to prevent surgical site infection in hospitalized adult patients after cardiac surgeries.

METHOD: Integrative review carried out in the databases MEDLINE, LILACS, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane and Scopus. Studies related to dressing in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery were selected.

RESULTS: Seven articles were included, with the following dressings: negative pressure wound therapy, silver nylon dressing, transdermal delivery of continuous oxygen and impermeable adhesive drape. The dressings that led to reduction of infection were negative pressure and silver nylon dressings.

CONCLUSION: It was not possible to identify which dressing is most recommended, however, some studies show that certain types of dressings were related to the reduction of infection. Clinical trials with a rigorous methodological design and representative samples able to minimize the risk of bias should be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of dressings in the prevention of surgical site infection.