ABSTRACT

Postoperative atrial fibrillation is commonly seen after cardiac surgery. One of the contributing factors is mediastinal shed blood and inflammation. Cell salvage techniques can reduce allogenic blood transfusion and reduce inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate the reduction of postoperative atrial fibrillation by using the cell-salvage system.

Patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery (n = 498) were analyzed retrospectively in 2 groups. Postoperative atrial fibrillation group (n = 75) and non-postoperative atrial fibrillation group (n = 423). Preoperative and postoperative demographic and clini- cal data were compared between the 2 groups, respectively. Postoperative atrial fibrillation and possible contributing factors were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression analysis.

In the postoperative atrial fibrillation group, the patients’ age and European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (Euroscore) were higher than in the non-postoperative atrial fibrillation group (P = .001 and P = .003, respectively). Postoperative intensive care unit stay and hospital stay were longer in the postoperative atrial fibrillation group than in the non-postoperative atrial fibrillation group (P = .001 and P = .046, respectively). There were no statistical differences in mortality between groups. The incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation decreased with the use of cell saver system and low Euroscore.

The use of a cell salvage device intraoperatively and during the early postoperative period can decrease the incidence of postop- erative atrial fibrillation group.

Keywords: Blood transfusion, cell salvage, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, postoperative atrial fibrillation