Robot-assisted off-pump minimally invasive reoperative coronary artery bypass grafting: case report

Resternotomy for reoperative coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has become increasingly common with an aging patient population. Minimally invasive and robotic techniques permit us to perform these surgeries with reduced morbidity and mortality.

A 67-year-old woman was taken to the operating room for repeat CABG. A free right internal mammary graft was endoscopically harvested using the da Vinci robotic operating system. A small left thoracotomy was then used to perform an off-pump bypass from the descending aorta to the hood of a diseased saphenous vein graft.

Robotic and minimally invasive cardiac surgery undergoes continuous refinement. As the incidence of reoperative surgery in patients with multiple previous interventions rises, surgeons will have to become increasingly creative with their choice of conduits, incisions, and the use of hybrid open and endoscopic techniques.