Dissecting sub-epicardial haematoma: a rare complication with the use of Octopus suction mechanical stabiliser

Mechanical heart stabilisers are the most important method of anastomotic field immobilisation in off pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) surgery. The new generations of stabilisers are small, versatile and relatively free of complications. We report a patient who developed a dissecting sub-epicardial haematoma following OPCAB using the OCTOPUS 3.0 (Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, USA) suction stabiliser, which manifested as myocardial ischaemia two hours after surgery. It is a rare but potentially lethal complication that has only once before been reported in literature.