[Pediatric heart surgery minimally invasive: experience of a Colombian center].

Objective: During the last decades, cardiac surgery has revolutionized, there is a growing interest in minimizing the physical aggression of surgical procedures, seeking a quick recovery, minimally invasive approaches have been a trend in recent years, with safety and efficacy equivalent to traditional techniques sternotomy. The objective of this study is to compare ­clinical results between pediatric patients with congenital heart disease undergoing minimally invasive surgery versus standard sternotomy.

Methods: Case-control study, nested in a retrospective cohort. All pediatric patients over 10 kg in weight were included, between 2014 and 2019 who underwent surgical correction of simple congenital heart disease, in a cardiovascular center in Medellin. A case was defined as one that underwent a minimally invasive approach (MICS) and control patients who were approached in a conventional manner (CONV). 122 patients were admitted, with a mean age (MICS: 6, 4-12 vs. CONV: 5, 2-8 years). No differences were found in the baseline characteristics of both groups. No statistically significant difference was documented in infusion times (MICS: 67 min [50-90] vs. CONV: 53 min [42-90]; p = 0.54), nor differences in complications (MICS: 7.4 vs. CONV: 8.8%; p = 0.77). MICS patients had lactate on admission and a shorter ICU stay than controls. ­

Conclusion: The MICS approach turns out to be a novel, less invasive, safe and efficient technique compared to the conventional surgical approach for the repair of simple congenital heart disease in pediatric patients.