Late Infectious Complications Following Ventricular Assist Device
Explant: A Case Series
Abstract
Driveline site infections are a common complication following
ventricular assist device (VAD) placement but infectious complications
at the prior pump inflow site rarely occur 1,2,3. That
said, VAD pump explantation due to complications or myocardial recovery
are becoming more common in this population as patients are living
longer with contemporary centrifugal VAD technology 4.
The current literature is limited in terms of risk for reoperation and
an optimal surgical approach to prevent early or long term
post-operative infectious complications 3,5,6. We
present a case series of three VAD explants resulting in remote pump
site complications following explant using various techniques: 1)
outflow graft transection with VAD inflow cannula plug placement and 2)
transection of the inflow graft after removal of silastic cover using a
combined left subcostal and anterior thoracotomy. A summary of the
combined case timelines is noted in Figure 1.