| Rigid Fixation | Conventional Closure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Group R | Group C | ||
| Number of patients | 89 | 133 | P value |
| Intubation (hours ± std) | 13 ± 20 | 39 ± 97 | 0.0030 |
| Intubation over 24hours | 3 (3%) | 28 (21%) | 0.0002 |
| Intensive care unit stay (hours ± std) | 58 ± 40 | 99 ± 119 | 0.0003 |
| Intensive care unit stay over 48hours | 56 (63%) | 96 (72%) | 0.1456 |
| Postoperative stay (days ± std) | 7.0 ± 3.7 | 8.4 ± 4.7 | 0.0141 |
| Postoperative stay over 7days | 36 (40%) | 71 (53%) | 0.0587 |
| Major complication (n, %) | |||
| Heart failure | 0 | 0 | 1.0000 |
| Postoperative myocardial infarction | 1 (1%) | 1 (1%) | 0.7739 |
| Ventilator use longer than 48hours | 3 (3%) | 18 (14%) | 0.0112 |
| Pneumonia | 1 (1%) | 5 (4%) | 0.2353 |
| Cerebral vascular accident | 0 | 5 (4%) | 0.0643 |
| Re-exploration for bleeding | 1 (1%) | 0 | 0.2205 |
| Postoperative hemodialysis | 1 (1%) | 1 (1%) | 0.7739 |
| Sternal infection | 1 (1%) | 0 | 0.2205 |
| Inhospital Death | 1 (1%) | 4 (3%) | 0.3356 |