Background and aim of the study: Many studies support that the no-touch (NT) procedure can improve the patency rate of vein grafts. However, it is not clear that the sequential vein graft early expansion in the NT technique during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This study will explore this issue.
Methods: This was a prospective single-center randomized controlled clinical trial. A total of 100 patients undergoing off-pump CABG with the sequential saphenous graft were randomly assigned to two groups: the NT and conventional (CON) groups. Perioperative and postoperative data were collected during the hospital stay. The mean diameter of sequential grafts was measured using cardiac computed tomography angiography 3 months after the operation.
Results: There was a significant difference in the average diameter of sequential grafts between the two groups (NT: [2.98 ± 0.42], CON: [3.26 ± 0.51], p = .005). There was no difference in occlusion of sequential venous grafts between the two groups (NT: 4/48 [8.3%], CON: 5/49 [10.2%], p = 1.000). There were differences in surgery time between the two groups (NT: 220 [188,240], CON: 190 [175,230], p = .009).
Conclusions: The sequential graft early expansion in the NT technique is not as pronounced as that in the conventional technique, which may have a long-term protective effect on the grafts.
Keywords: cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA); conventional saphenous vein graft harvesting; coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG); no-touch saphenous vein graft harvesting; off-pump CABG; sequential saphenous vein grafting.
© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Cardiac Surgery Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.