Efficacy of Surgical Drainage Versus Antimicrobial Therapy Alone in the Management of Acute Mediastinitis: A Single‐Center Retrospective Study

Key Points

• To evaluate the efficacy of surgical drainage versus antimicrobial therapy alone in treating acute mediastinitis based on disease severity.
• Single-center retrospective study
• Assessment of patient outcomes based on treatment type
• Evaluation of initial disease severity using qSOFA scores
• Surgical drainage is key for patients with high qSOFA scores.
• Antimicrobial therapy alone works for stable early-stage infection patients.
• Management needs to be individualized based on imaging and etiology.