Table 1 Microbiologic findings in all 881 seroma samples after primary breast cancer surgery in 199 patients expressed as a percentage of positive and negative cultures in the groups treated with steroids (methylprednisolone) or saline. Microorganisms in seroma cultures were identified with a conventional method and with aerobic and anaerobic blood culture bottles. The results of each of the culture methods (counts and percentages) are shown in relation to the combined evaluation of all three methods and classified according to the microbiological finding and treatment group. Data were not available in some cases for all three microbiological methods. The present study was part of a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled intervention study that analyzed the effect of a single dose of 80 mg of steroids on seroma formation after mastectomy
Culture method | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conventional methoda | Aerobic blood culture bottleb | Anaerobic blood culture bottlec | ||||
Treatment | Neg n = 746 n (%) | Pos n = 131 n (%) | Neg n = 645 n (%) | Pos n = 230 n (%) | Neg n = 656 n (%) | Pos n = 214 n (%) |
Saline | 406 (46.1) | 31 (3.5) | 363 (41.2) | 73 (8.3) | 368 (41.8) | 65 (7.4) |
Steroids | 340 (38.6) | 100 (11.4)* | 282 (32.0) | 157 (17.8)* | 288 (32.7) | 149 (16.9)* |
Saline vs steroids odds ratio (95% CI) | 6.58 (3.82–11.34) | 5.02 (3.30–7.62) | 4.74 (3.11–7.24) | |||