Objective: To explore the application of new chest holder in the median sternotomy for open heart surgery in adults. Methods: Two hundred adult patients in Henan Provincial People's Hospital from May 2013 to May 2015 were enrolled in the study and randomly divided into two groups. Experimental group included 100 cases who accepted the new type of chest holder in the open heart surgery. Control group were also composed of 100 cases whose sternums were fixed with the pure steel wire cerclage. Sternal closure time was recorded since the sternum closing. All subjects were followed up to obtain the chest incision healing, the incidence of sternal dehiscence, infection and secondary thoracotomy, and thus to estimated the effect of new chest holder. Results: All patients in the experimental group reached the effect of firm closed chest surgery. Sternal closure time of experimental group was much shorter than that of control group[(10±2) vs (21±4) min, P<0.001]. No sternal instability, dehiscence, infection and secondary thoracotomy were found during the follow-up. However, in the control group, 3 secondary thoracotomy cases, 6 sternal dehiscence cases and 2 sternal infection cases were detected. Conclusions: New type of chest holder in the median sternotomy for open heart surgery is more convenient with small surgical trauma. It can also effectively reduce the incidence of sternal instability, dehiscence, infection and secondary thoracotomy.