Pulmonary function following on and off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting <b>[Abstract in English]</b>

Abstract

AIMS: To evaluate and compare the pulmonary function of patients submitted to myocardial revascularization surgery, with and without the use of extracorporeal circulation. METHODS: The sample comprised 40 patients submitted to myocardial revascularization surgery, classified into two groups, depending on whether extracorporeal circulation was used (wECC - 20 patients) or not (nECC – 20 patients). Spirometric recordings of forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) were obtained during the preoperative period (considered baseline) and on the first, third and fifth days postoperatively. RESULTS: In general, the values of FVC and FEV1 diminished on the first day postoperatively compared to the baseline (mean difference = 1.8±1.0, p less than 0.001 and 1.3±1.0, p less than 0.001, respectively), with partial recovery on the third and fifth day postoperatively, with no return to the initial values (mean difference =1.2±1.1, p less than 0.001 and 0.9±0.9, p less than 0.001, respectively). After controlling for baseline values, no significant differences were observed between the wECC and nECC groups as to FVC and FEV1 on the 5th day postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial revascularization surgery was associated to a significant decrease in pulmonary function in all patients, with partial recovery of FVC and FEV1 on the fifth day postoperatively for all groups, with no return to baseline values. No statistically significant association was found between extracorporeal circulation and pulmonary function on the fifth day postoperatively.