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Testimonials

The surgeons who use it, in their own words.

Cardiothoracic departments in Vienna, Hamburg, Stockholm, Jena and Southampton adopted the POSTHORAX® vest as standard practice, then reported what happened to their sternal complication rates. These are their statements.

Quotations are reproduced as provided to us and describe each speaker’s clinical experience — they are not a guarantee of any individual outcome. Where a statement quotes a figure, the study behind it is listed on our clinical evidence page.

Recognition

A theatre nurse in a mask and surgical cap holding a folder in a hospital preparation room

2009 · Vienna

“Successful treatment in patient care”

1st Place Innovation Award 2009, City of Vienna, Austria — awarded to the Posthorax thorax support system.

2013 · United Kingdom

HSJ Efficiency in Medical Technology Award

Recognised for the efficiency gains a single-patient device can deliver against the cost of treating a deep sternal wound infection.

Made in Austria · European Patent 1940330 · Single-patient device under EU MDR 2017/745

From the departments that made it standard practice

A modern glass-fronted hospital building framed by green trees under a blue sky
“Consequent application of the Posthorax vest reduced deep sternal wound complications by 63%.”
M.D. Ph.D. Florian M. Wagner University Heart Center Hamburg, Germany
Stockholm City Hall and its tower reflected in the water at dusk
“We have used the vest for more than 6 months in more than 500 patients. We are very pleased with the results. Our deep sternal infection rate dropped by more than 70%.”
M.D. Ph.D. Hans Jonsson Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
A clinician in a white coat seated at a desk beside a medical imaging monitor
“Since we treat all patients with the Posthorax sternum vest it is a win for all — we highly recommend Posthorax to every heart center.”
Prim. Univ. Doz. M. Grabenwöger Heart Center Vienna, Austria Image supplied by POSTHORAX with this statement
A clinician in a white coat standing beside an anaesthetic machine in an operating theatre
“Bio-mechanical analysis: the findings of the study proved a positive biomechanical effect of the Posthorax support vest in the anteroposterior movement, which predicates its favorable clinical effect in avoiding sternum related complications.”
M.D. Ph.D. Michael Gorlitzer Hietzing Heart Center, Vienna, Austria Image supplied by POSTHORAX with this statement
The white historic main building of the Hietzing hospital campus in Vienna, seen from its entrance drive
“This study confirms that stabilizing the thorax in the dorsoventral axis prevents sternum dehiscence and infections.”
M.D. Ph.D. Michael Gorlitzer Hietzing Heart Center, Vienna, Austria — on the importance of stabilising the sternum after open heart procedures
A large modern general hospital building with a curved roofline under a bright sky
“The more we used the Posthorax support vest, the more reductions in sternal complications we observed.”
Nicolas Nicolaidis Dept. of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Southampton General Hospital, United Kingdom
A nurse and a doctor with clipboards talking to an older woman sitting up in a hospital bed
“Super design, clinical efficiency — a product like that stops sternal infections and much prolonged hospitalization for our patients.”
Dr. Markus Richter Dept. of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, University Clinic Jena, Germany
A smiling clinician in blue scrubs holding a clipboard, with colleagues conferring in the background
“Correct application and stringent use of the Posthorax® vest as a single patient product provides highly significant results preventing dWHC, whereas sWHC showed no significant improvement. Hence postoperative anterior–posterior stabilization in the dorsal–ventral axis as demonstrated by the Posthorax® vest seems to be the single most important factor preventing deep sternal wound infections and mediastinitis.”
Ph.D. Dr. Florian Wagner University Hospital Hamburg, Germany — presented at DGTHG 2011

dWHC: deep wound healing complications · sWHC: superficial wound healing complications

About these statements and images

Quotations are supplied by POSTHORAX® and reproduced verbatim, with punctuation and Australian spelling left as given. Each names the clinician and the centre so it can be checked. Statements from clinicians outside Australia describe practice in their own institutions.

Two images are marked supplied by POSTHORAX and accompany the statement they were provided with. The remaining photographs — the hospital and heart-centre exteriors, the ward round and the theatre images — are illustrative hospital photography, not portraits of the clinicians quoted, and no clinician appearing in them is stated to endorse the device.

Reviewed 30 July 2026 · Corrections or requests to amend a quotation: sales@posthorax.com.au

The trials behind the numbers

Every figure quoted here traces back to a published study or congress presentation. The evidence page lists them with authors, journals and PDFs, and states plainly what has and has not been shown.

Read the clinical evidence PRO Support Vest For hospitals