Early postoperative arrhythmias after pediatric cardiac surgery

This prospective study proposed to determine the incidence, risk factors, and management protocols for early postoperative arrhythmias after pediatric cardiac surgery, with focus on outcomes, using a uniform protocol, and also to see if children operated on at a later age have different issues from those operated on earlier.

Of 224 consecutive pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery from September 2013 to July 2014, 24 were excluded because their procedures were performed without cardiopulmonary bypass.

The median age was 24 months (mean 50.1 ± 62.4 months, range 0.5-216 months). Fifteen (7.5%) patients developed arrhythmia, the most common was junctional ectopic tachycardia (n = 7, 46.6%) followed by supraventricular tachycardia (n = 5, 33.3%). All junctional ectopic tachycardias occurred within 24 h of intensive care unit admission. Of the 7 patients with junctional ectopic tachycardia, 5 responded to conventional measures and 2 required amiodarone infusion. There was a significant longer cardiopulmonary bypass time in patients with arrhythmias compared to those without arrhythmias.

We observed a very low incidence of arrhythmias, particularly junctional ectopic tachycardia, after open heart surgery in children. Other than a longer cardiopulmonary bypass time, no specific predictors were identified. It appears that the cause of arrhythmias following pediatric cardiac surgery is multifactorial and needs further study with a greater number of patients.