[Adhesion Prevention Effect of Circular Pericardial Drainage].

Pericardial adhesions can pose serious problems during cardiac reoperation. Here, we report three cases where circular pericardial drainage (CPD) was performed during the initial surgery and no pericardial adhesions were found during reoperation. All three patients had initially undergone an aortic valve replacement with CPD. Case 1:An 80-year-old female was reoperated this time for an aneurysm of the ascending aorta. A replacement of the ascending aorta was performed. Case 2:A 76-year-old male underwent a second aortic valve repair indicated for prosthetic valve infection. Case 3:The patient was an 82-year-old female. This time, mitral valve replacement, indicated for severe mitral valve stenosis, was performed. In these three cases, there were almost no adhesions in the CPD route. The diaphragmatic pericardial surface, the oblique sinus of pericardium, and the lateral side of the left ventricle were also adhesion-free. CPD can effectively drain postoperative pericardial hemorrhage and thus prevent pericardial adhesions.