Minimally invasive cardiac surgery in low-resource settings: right vertical infra-axillary mini-thoracotomy without...

Literature is scarce on minimally invasive cardiac surgery in adults with a right vertical infra-axillary thoracotomy approach without using peripheral cannulation. This study aimed to analyze the perioperative, early outcomes of minimally invasive cardiac surgery with direct vision using central aortic-venous cannulation through a right vertical infra-axillary thoracotomy, vs. standard cardiac surgery with median sternotomy.

This retrospective study included the first 100 adult patients who were operated on via right vertical infra-axillary thoracotomy and central aortic and venous cannulation. The control group comprised 100 adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery through a median sternotomy and central aortic and venous cannulation.

The thoracotomy group was associated with prolonged aortic cross-clamp time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, and operation time. The amount of postoperative chest tube drainage and blood transfusion was higher in the sternotomy group. No difference was found between the groups in terms of postoperative morbidity and mortality rates. Despite a higher level of pain in the thoracotomy group on the first 3 postoperative days, patient satisfaction was higher in this group.

In a resource-limited setting, minimally invasive cardiac surgery with direct vision using central aortic-venous cannulation through a right vertical infra-axillary thoracotomy may help to establish minimally invasive cardiac surgery with better cosmetic results, and higher patient satisfaction compared to the median sternotomy approach. Outcomes during the learning curve were similar.