[Coronary bypass operation with complete median sternotomy in awake patients with high thoracic peridural anesthesia]

High thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) combined with general anesthesia is increasingly being used for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with extracorporeal circulation. Recent developments in beating heart techniques have rendered the use of TEA alone in conscious patients possible and have been reported for single-vessel beating heart CABG via lateral thoracotomy. For multi-vessel revascularization the heart is usually approached via median sternotomy, therefore the use of TEA alone was applied in awake patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease who underwent CABG via median sternotomy.

A total of 10 patients scheduled for awake coronary artery bypass grafting (ACAB) received TEA via an epidural catheter placed at T1/2 or T2/3. Total arterial myocardial revascularization was performed after median sternotomy. In addition to standard monitoring, anesthetic sensory and motor block levels were determined using an epidural scoring scale for arm movements (ESSAM).

Except for one patient who required intraoperative endotracheal intubation due to a pneumothorax, all patients were awake and maintained spontaneous breathing during the entire procedure. Compared to baseline values, hemodynamic parameters, e.g. arterial blood pressure (SAP, MAP, DAP) and heart rate significantly declined during coronary anastomosis. No significant hypercarbia was observed. The intraoperative pain level was subjectively estimated by the patients as less than 20 out of 100 (median 10.95% confidence interval 4.2-21.6) using a visual analogue scale. All patients rated TEA as "good" or "excellent." Adverse effects associated with TEA were not observed.

We could demonstrate that the use of TEA alone for CABG via median sternotomy was feasible and produced good results. High patient satisfaction in our small and highly selected cohort could be reported. Nevertheless, randomized controlled trials in large cohorts are mandatory to definitively evaluate the role of TEA alone in cardiac surgery.