• Adrianus J de Vries, Massimo A Mariani, Joost M A A van der Maaten, Bert G Loef, and Harm Lip.
• Departments of Anesthesiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, University Hospital Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. a.j.de.vries@anest.azg.nl
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2002 Feb 1;16(1):21-6.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of immediate postoperative extubation and postoperative ventilation after minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) surgery and to assess the role of epidural anesthesia.DesignRandomized prospective study.SettingUniversity hospital, single institution.ParticipantsPatients (n = 90) scheduled for elective MIDCAB surgery.InterventionsPatients were divided into 3 groups: 30 patients had general anesthesia and were extubated immediately after surgery (extubated group), 30 patients had a thoracic epidural and general anesthesia and were extubated immediately after surgery (epidural group), and 30 patients had general anesthesia and were ventilated after surgery (intubated group).Measurements And Main ResultsWith a similar cardiac index and less vasoactive medication, mean arterial blood pressure (77 plus minus 8 mmHg [mean plus minus SD]) and heart rate (76 plus minus 10 beats/min) in the epidural group were lower on the first postoperative day than in the intubated group (83 plus minus 10 mmHg and 81 plus minus 13 beats/min) and the extubated group (86 plus minus 10 mmHg and 83 plus minus 13) (p = 0.01 and p = 0.09). Oxygenation on the first postoperative day was better in the epidural group than in the intubated group (14.8 plus minus 3.8 kPa v 12.6 plus minus 3.2 kPa; p = 0.05). The epidural group and the extubated group had a transient respiratory acidosis postoperatively. Pain score in the epidural group was lower on the first postoperative day than in the extubated group with general anesthesia (3.0 plus minus 1.6 visual analog scale v 4.6 plus minus 1.8 visual analog scale; p = 0.01). Hospital stay was shorter in the epidural group than in the ventilated group (5.9 plus minus 2.4 days v 8.1 plus minus 5.3 days; p = 0.05)ConclusionImmediate postoperative extubation in patients with thoracic epidural anesthesia and supplemental general anesthesia provides the most favorable clinical circumstances after MIDCAB surgery.Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

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