Saskatoon Health Region notifying open-heart surgery patients of infection risk
Adult patients who received open-heart surgery within the Saskatoon Health Region (SHR) between 2011-2016 are at risk for a potential infection.
While the risk is low, SHR is letting patients know about the possible infection, which is related to a device used to heat and cool the blood during surgery.
The devices are essential to performing open-heart surgeries and are routinely used in hospitals throughout Canada, the United States and Europe.
“For most patients, the benefits of undergoing heart surgery far outweigh any remote risk of infection,” said Dr. Greg Dalshaug, Saskatoon Health Region’s division head of Cardiac Surgery, in a news release Thursday.