Riffat Tanveer, Asad Khan.
Frequency of pleural effusion in CABG surgery patients in whom the internal thoracic artery was harvested with intact pleura or with pleurotomy.
Pak Heart J Jan ;52(4):356-60.

Objective: To determine the frequency of post-operative pleural effusion in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients who underwent internal thoracic artery(ITA) harvesting in whom pleurotomy was performed and in whom the pleura was intact. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out from January 2016 to January 2019 at Dow University of Sciences Hospital Karachi. Patients who underwent elective CABG surgery in whom internal thoracic artery (ITA) graft was utilized were included. They were divided in two groups. In one group patients the ITA was harvested with the pleura being intact and in the second group patients pleurotomy was performed. They were assessed for pleural effusion utilizing chest X-ray on the 2nd postoperative day. Results: From a total of 179 patients in whom the internal thoracic artery (ITA)was harvested, in eighty seven eighty-seven patients the pleura was intact and in ninety two ninety-two patients pleurotomy was performed. In the intact pleura group seven patients (8.04%) had pleural effusion. In the pleurotomy group a total of twenty five (28.26%) patients had pleural effusion. In CABG surgery patients who underwent ITA harvesting the occurrence of pleural effusion was significantly greater in the pleurotomy group (28.26%) compared to the intact pleura group (8.04%) (p<0.05). Conclusion: In CABG surgery patients who underwent ITA harvesting the occurrence of postoperative pleural effusion was greater in the pleurotomy group compared to the intact pleura group.

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