Influence of internal mammary artery retractor on postoperative patient comfort and quality of life.

Introduction: Patients experience muscle, joint and shoulder pain after heart surgery. We aimed to compare quality of life in 2 groups of patients, one group having an internal mammary artery (IMA) retractor during surgery, the second group undergoing non-coronary heart surgery.

Material And Methods: Group 1 was composed of 39 patients receiving an IMA retractor whereas in group 2 there were 29 patients.

A rare complication: aorta-cutaneous fistula with abundant bleeding.

Pseudoaneurysm and aorto-cutaneous fistula following surgical procedures of the aorta are rare complications with potentially catastrophic results that require rapid diagnosis and urgent surgical treatment. We performed a successful life-saving operation using hypothermic circulatory arrest with femoral artery and vein cannulation. The patient had undergone open heart surgery in our clinic twice, and there was active and abundant bleeding from aorta-cutaneous fistula that occured 5 years after the last surgery.