Determinants of intensive care unit length of stay after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify independent preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative determinants of intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and to evaluate the usefulness of a mortality risk scoring system, the Parsonnet score, as a prognostic indicator of ICU length of stay after CABG.

Methods: A prospective nonrandomized sample of 109 consecutive patients was enrolled before CABG and followed prospectively until ICU discharge. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify factors independently associated with ICU length of stay.

Preoperative and postoperative predictors of early and delayed extubation after coronary artery bypass surgery.

Objective: To identify preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative predictors of early (6 hours or less after surgery) and delayed (more than 6 hours) extubation after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Methods: The sample for this prospective nonrandomized study consisted of 116 consecutive patients in a 12-bed cardiothoracic ICU who had coronary artery bypass graft surgery in a 6-month period and were followed up prospectively until transfer to an observation unit.

Results: Age and the presence of early hemodynamic instability (within the first 3 hours after ICU admission) were independent predictors of intubation times of more than 6 hours when each was considered in separate multivariate models of preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative variables.

Techniques for measuring arterial pressure in the postoperative cardiac surgery patient.

Blood pressure measurement and management of the cardiac surgical patient do not appear to be simple processes. The critical care nurse needs to understand thoroughly the many technical and physiologic variables pertaining to the equipment used (i.e.

Retrograde coronary sinus perfusion: a new approach to cardioplegia delivery.

Retrograde coronary sinus perfusion is a technique being used to deliver cardioplegia during cardiac surgery. This article reviews the history behind its use, the procedure for delivery, and the advantages and limitations that exist in comparison with the standard antegrade infusion of cardioplegia via the aortic root. The complications resulting from the technique of retrograde coronary sinus perfusion are rare.