Bridging saphenous vein harvesting versus conventional techniques in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting in Suez Canal university hospital

Background

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a common cause of death, which encourages us to improve continuously the techniques adopted for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Still the most commonly used graft is saphenous vein harvested by different techniques.

Methods

This prospective randomized study included 60 patients with IHD in need of CABG classified into two equal groups: group A (saphenous vein harvesting with conventional technique) and group B (saphenous vein harvesting with lens assisted bridging technique [LABT]). We compared the two groups in terms of preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data then we statistically analysed the findings.

Results

Our study showed that LABT had significantly less pain, less infection, more cosmetic, less hospital stay with more patient satisfaction and without any additional costs.

Conclusions

Our study showed that lens assisted bridging vein harvesting was a good substitute for conventional technique.