Five-year experience with immediate extubation after arterial switch operations for transposition of great arteries

We sought to identify preoperative, intraoperative and anatomical factors associated with immediate extubation (IE) after arterial switch operation for d-transposition of great arteries (dTGA).

This was a single-centre retrospective study performed from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2015. IE was defined as successful extubation in the operating room (OR). Univariate/bivariate regression of preoperative, intraoperative and anatomical variables was used to determine associations with IE.

Of 32 patients in the dTGA spectrum (age at operation 6 days), 18 (56%) underwent IE. Twelve (71%) of the 17 patients with an intact ventricular septum and 6 (43%) of the 14 patients with ventricular septal defect (VSD) underwent IE, whereas none of the patients with double outlet right ventricle or aortic arch obstruction ( n  = 4) did. Patients who had cardiopulmonary bypass time (CPB) >173 min ( P  = 0.01), lowest temperature on CPB (T min) ≤ 30.4°C ( P  = 0.04) and aortic cross-clamp time >86 min ( P  = 0.04) were more likely to be left intubated at the end of the procedure. There was no significant difference in patient's chronological age, gestational age, post-conceptual age, weight, coronary anatomy or prevalence of VSD between those who did and did not undergo IE. There was a median increase in intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS) by 1 day (33%, P  = 0.03) and ICU costs by $12 338 (15%, P  = 0.06) in non-IE patients. The OR turnover time ( P  = 0.09) and reintubation rate ( P  = 1) at 24 h post-extubation did not differ between those who did and did not have IE. There was no myocardial dysfunction evident on predismissal echocardiography in either group.

In this cohort of infants, post repair for TGA, 56% were extubated immediately in the OR. Greater CPB and cross-clamp times and T min ≤ 30.4°C were associated with a lesser likelihood of IE. IE was associated with shorter ICU length of stay.