Pro: Is Minimal Invasive Extracorporeal Circulation Superior to Conventional Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Cardiac Surgery?

Despite numerous technological advances and significant experience acquired in surgical procedures using extracorporeal circulation, on-pump cardiac surgery is still not devoid of drawbacks1. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons adult cardiac surgery database, which spans over 200,000 procedures, shows that favorable operative outcomes are observed in low-risk elective surgeries (i.e., coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG], isolated aortic valve replacement, or mitral valve repair). Notwithstanding these positive trends, significant rates of operative mortality and major morbidity, reaching around 30%, persist not only in high-risk scenarios (i.e., emergency CABG or acute aortic dissection repair) but also in routine cases, such as isolated mitral valve replacement (MVR) and elective combined procedures (i.e., valve surgery and CABG)2.
Source: Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Pro and Con Source Type: research