Clinical Research Directory

The Benefit of Local Anesthesia at the Sternum in Patients With Coronary Surgery

Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting are at risk for perioperative myocardial ischemia. Episodes of tachycardia and hypertension, which are associated with an increase in myocardial oxygen consumption, are predictive events of these ischemia. During cardiac surgery by sternotomy, some maneuvers, e.g. intubation, skin incision, sternotomy and cannulation, may be associated with tachycardia and/or increases in blood pressure despite an adequate level of anesthesia. Usually these episodes are controlled by the administration of a high-dose of anesthetic agents. The parasternal block, by bolus or continuous infusion through a single catheter, showed its effectiveness on postoperative pain after sternotomy. It allows a blocking of anterior branches of intercostal nerves at the lateral edge of the sternum; branches in charge of innervation of the sternum and the overlying skin surface. The preoperative parasternal block, once general anesthesia performed, could provide an effective level of locoregional anesthesia of the chest wall, thus limiting the occurrence of episodes of tachycardia and / or hypertension without having to resort to massive doses of anesthetic agents during sternotomy in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery.

Comparison of Post-operation Cardiopulmonary Capacity of Patients Underwent Conventional and Robot-assisted Coronary Artery Bypass Graft and Valve Replacement Surgery

Robotic surgery is one of the most popular minimally invasive procedures for patients with coronary artery disease or valvular diseases. Studies have shown that, as compared to conventional sternotomy, patients underwent robot-assisted bypass grafting or valvuloplasty had less post-operation pain, blood transfusion volume during operation, re-operation rate, post-operation stroke rate and length of hospitalization. However, most studies focused on the comparison of complications of different procedures, and the investigation of cardiopulmonary function recovery is still lacking. Thus our study is to compare the functional outcomes between patients that undergo different surgical procedures.

Transit Time Flow Measurement in Coronary Surgery

Transit-time flowmetry (TTFM) allows grafts quality control during coronary artery bypass surgery by measuring the flow volume through them. To date, many studies have deeply studied the predictive role on the graft outcomes of the various flowmetry-derived parameters. One of the least investigated aspects, however, is the mutual influence that two newly realized grafts can have. This possibility would be related to the presence of a more or less developed collateral circulation between the bypassed territories. The purpose of this study is to assess whether a graft for a territory different than that provided by the left anterior descending artery (LAD) may affect the functionality (measured through flowmetry) of the left internal mammary artery - LAD graft.