Abstract
Background: At least 20 - 30 % of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG)
or beating-heart surgery develop postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF). We evaluated
the effect of thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) on the occurrence of postoperative
AF in patients submitted to CABG without cardiopulmonary bypass (OPCABG). Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 125 patients undergoing myocardial revascularization.
Early postoperative incidence of AF was compared between three groups of patients
- 50 after conventional CABG, 45 after OPCABG, and 30 after OPCABG combined with TEA
intraoperatively and postoperatively. Clinical profile of the patients, including
factors with a potential influence on postoperative AF was matched for groups. Results: Postoperative AF occurred in 13.3 % of the TEA-treated patients, in 17.7 % of the
patients in the OPCABG group, and in 26 % of the patients in the CABG group. This
difference did not carry any statistical significance. Risk factors and incidence
of postoperative complications were comparable in all groups. Conclusion: TEA has no effect on the incidence of postoperative AF in patients undergoing beating-heart
surgery.
Key words
CABG - beating-heart surgery - anesthesia - fibrillation
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M. Scherer
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, J. W. Goethe University
Theodor-Stern-Kai 7
60590 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Phone: +49/69/6301-5850
Email: M.Scherer@em.uni-frankfurt.de