Objective: To compare the short-term outcomes in selected high-risk patients underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) or on-pump conventional coronary artery bypass grafting (CCABG).
Methods: Comparative analysis was made between 318 high-risk patients underwent OPCAB between January 1999 to December 2005 and 197 high-risk patients underwent CCABG between January 1999 to December 2003 and EuroSCORE was > or = 5 in all patients.
Results: EuroSCORE was similar between the two groups (6.1 +/- 1.2 vs. 6.3 +/- 1.4 per patient). The patients in OPCAB group were significantly older [(71.1 +/- 6.0) years vs. (60.2 +/- 8.5) years, P < 0.01] and had more peripheral vascular diseases (47.8% vs. 23.4%, P < 0.01) than that in CCABG group. The OPCAB group included more patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) > or = 50% (84% vs. 60.4%, P < 0.01) compared to CCABG group. Mean grafts per patient was 3.0 +/- 0.8 in OPCAB group and 3.6 +/- 0.9 in CCABG group (P < 0.01). Operative mortality was 1.6% (5/318) in OPCAB group and 6.1% (12/197) (P < 0.01). The total Intensive Care Unit (ICU) time was (90 +/- 169) hours for OPCAB patients and (126 +/- 187) hours for CCABG patients (P < 0.05). The total ventilator support time was (21 +/- 45) hours for OPCAB and (54 +/- 170) hours for CCABG patients (P < 0.01). Intro-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP) rate (2.5% vs. 10.2%, P < 0.01), rate of re-operation for cardiac reasons (1.9% vs. 5.6%, P < 0.01), rate of cerebral vascular accident (CVA) (0.3% vs. 2.5%, P < 0.05) and cardiac arrest rate (2.8% vs. 6.6%, P < 0.05) were all less in OPCAB group compared to CCABG group.
Conclusion: Compared to CCABG, OPCAB significantly reduces post operation ICU time, ventilator support time, operative mortality and operative morbidity in selected high-risk patients.