PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tok, Mustafa
AU  - Ucar, Halil I.
AU  - Dogan, Omer F.
AU  - Farsak, Bora
AU  - Yorgancioglu, Ali C.
TI  - Protective role of intracoronary shunt in off-pump coronary bypass operations
DP  - 2008 Apr 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 573--579
VI  - 29
IP  - 4
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/29/4/573.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/29/4/573.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2008 Apr 01; 29
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate if there are any advantages in using intracoronary shunts compared to shuntless operations, in the context of whether it has a protective role for the myocardia.METHODS: This prospective study, included 100 patients who underwent off-pump coronary bypass surgery at 2 different cardiovascular surgery departments, namely, the Social Security Ankara Ihtisas Hospital, and Hacettepe University Hospital, Turkey, between September 2002 and July 2006. Patients were divided into 2 groups. In group 1 n=50 off-pump coronary bypass operations were performed with intracoronary shunts. In group 2 n=50 shunts were not used during off-pump. Serum creatine kinase, myoglobin, and troponin were studied.RESULTS: There were significant increases in serum creatine kinase levels in group 2 at postoperative 6th, 12th, and 24th hours. In group 2, the increase of myoglobin was statistically significant at only the postoperative 24th hour. Troponin levels were significantly higher in group 2 at postoperative 6th, 12th, and 24th hours.CONCLUSION: There are some questions regarding myocardial protection while maintaining a bloodless secure surgical field in off-pump coronary surgery. However, use of intracoronary shunts provides distal coronary flow, and reduces the risk of myocardial ischemia, while maintaining a comfortable blood free anastomosis area.