The Annals of thoracic surgery
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At our institution, cardiac reoperations are routinely performed in the cardiac intensive care unit, as opposed to taking these patients back to the operating room. Our hypothesis was that reoperation in a cardiac intensive care unit does not increase sternal infection rate. ⋯ Reoperation in the intensive care unit does not increase wound infection rate compared to those without reoperation. Decreased charges, avoiding transport of potentially unstable patients, quicker time to intervention, and convenience are advantages of reoperation in an intensive care unit.