CorSalud (Jun 2009)
ESTRATEGIA ANESTÉSICA PARA LA CIRUGÍA CON EL CORAZÓN LATIENDO. CINCO AÑOS DE EXPERIENCIA EN EL CARDIOCENTRO ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA / Anesthesia strategy for surgery with beating heart. Five years of experience at the “Ernesto Che Guevara” Cardiology Hospital
Abstract
Introduction and Objectives: The anesthesia in coronary surgery, using high sustained doses of fentanyl, leads to protracted postoperative extubation and stay. The assessment of an anesthesiastrategy for coronary surgery without extracorporeal circulation, in order to reduce the use of opioids and make possible an early extubation and a shorter post-surgical stay, was the objective of thiswork. Methods: 732 patients who underwent surgical myocardial revascularization without heartlung machine, from February 2003 to December 2007, using general anesthesia with intermittent boluses of fentanyl, with or without associated epidural anesthesia, were studied. Results: 625 surgical operations with general anesthesia in boluses and 107 adding peridural anesthesia were carried out. The average amount of fentanyl was 34.7 ml per patient in the first group and 24.9 ml when adding peridural anesthesia. Twenty seven patients were extubated in the operating room. The total average time was 8.6 hours (8.8 hours in the group where the anesthesia in boluses wasused and 6.7 hours for those with peridural anesthesia associated). The total average stay at the Intensive Care Unit was 40.1 hours. Conclusions: The intermittent anesthesia reduced the amount of fentanyl used in 86.6 percent when compared to the high sustained doses reported in a previous study. This made possible the early extubation of the patients, which increased due to the use of peridural anesthesia, and a decrease in average stay of the patient at the Intensive Care Unit.
