Comparison of symptoms of younger and older patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery

Little is known about the symptom experience throughout the trajectory of recovery for patients after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS). This study investigates the preoperative and postoperative symptoms experienced by younger (< 65 years) and older (> or = 65 years) patients (N= 102) who had undergone CABS. Reported preoperative symptoms were angina, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sweating. At 1 week post-CABS, symptoms were incisional pain, wound drainage, chest congestion, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, swollen feet, and loss of appetite; incisional pain and swollen feet were reported by a few patients at 6 weeks after CABS. The incidence and frequency of postoperative symptoms declined over time. There were several age-related differences in symptom reports prior to and at 1 and 6 weeks after the procedure. Such information can be used to plan the care of patients undergoing CABS, to prepare them for normal recovery, and to determine the need for symptom management by health care providers.