On- versus off-pump CABG in octogenarians: A propensity-matched analysis from the UK National Database.

Introduction: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains a good revascularization strategy in octogenarians with excellent clinical outcomes and quality of life postoperatively. However, the benefits of off-pump over on-pump CABG in the elderly population are still controversial. We investigated this issue in the UK National Audit database.
Method: We retrospectively analyzed all octogenarians undergoing nonemergency, isolated CABG from 1996 to 2019. Propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to adjust for imbalance in the baseline characteristics between the off-pump and on-pump groups. Primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and postoperative cerebrovascular accidents. Secondary outcomes were bleeding requiring reoperation, deep sternal wound infection, and postoperative dialysis.
Result: A total of 6436 patients were included for analysis. No differences were observed between off- and on-pump group in-hospital mortality (4% vs. 3.8%, p = .89), return to theater rate (5.4% vs. 6.2%, p = .16) and incidence of deep sternal wound infection (1.1% vs. 1.6%, p = .34). However, octogenarian undergoing off-pump CABG were less likely to experience postoperative transient ischemic attack (TIA)/stroke (1.4% vs. 2.3%, p = .004) but more likely to require renal dialysis (4.8% vs. 3.5%, p = .03).
Conclusion: The data show similar in-hospital mortality in octogenarians regardless of the revascularization technique used. Off-pump when compared with on-pump CABG is associated with a lower incidence in postoperative neurological events but a higher need for renal dialysis.
(© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Cardiac Surgery published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)