Coronary artery bypass surgery with intermittent aortic clamping

ABSTRACT

To assess the degree of mayocardial protection with intermittent aortic clamping technique in coronary artery bypass surgery, a study in all patients [n=75] under going coronary artery bypass surgery at Department of Cardiac Surgery, Mayo Hospital, Lahore from January, 1993 to June, 1993 was carried out. 58 [77.3%] underwent elective surgery, 12 [16%] had urgent operation for unstable angina and in 5 [6.7%] patients emergency surgery was performed. The average number of grafts was 3.2 per patient with average aortic clamping time of 9.7 minutes per distal anastomosis. There were three [4%] hospital deaths. Absence of any rhythum disturbance and the fact that inotropic support was not required postoperatively in 63 patients [84%] indicates that this technique is simple, safe and provides excellent myocardial protection during coronary artery bypass surgery, especially with totally occluded coronaries