Objectives: to analyze the occurrence and predisposing factors for surgical site infection in
patients submitted to heart transplantation, evaluating the relationship between
cases of infections and the variables related to the patient and the surgical
procedure. Method: retrospective cohort study, with review of the medical records of patients older
than 18 years submitted to heart transplantation. The correlation between
variables was evaluated by using Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon
test. Results: the sample consisted of 86 patients, predominantly men, with severe systemic
disease, submitted to extensive preoperative hospitalizations. Signs of surgical
site infection were observed in 9.3% of transplanted patients, with five (62.5%)
superficial incisional, two (25%) deep and one (12.5%) case of organ/space
infection. There was no statistically significant association between the
variables related to the patient and the surgery. Conclusion: there was no association between the studied variables and the cases of surgical
site infection, possibly due to the small number of cases of infection observed in
the sample investigated.