Does age limit the effectiveness of clinical pathways after coronary artery bypass graft surgery?

Clinical pathways have been shown to be effective in reducing the length of hospital stay after isolated CABG. Few studies, however, have focused specifically on the outcomes of the pathways in regard to the elderly population.

We reviewed our experience with 445 consecutive patients (299 < 70 years old [mean age, 58.2 +/- 0.5 years] and 146 > or = 70 years old [mean age, 75.6 +/- 0.3 years]) who underwent isolated CABG with the expectation of progressing through the same 5-day postoperative pathway. Preoperatively, the elderly had a smaller body surface area (1.87 +/- 0.02 versus 2.00 +/- 0.01; P < 0.001) and a higher incidence of female gender (45.9% versus 26.8%; P = 0.001), cerebrovascular disease (13.7% versus 7.0%; P = 0.022), congestive heart failure (22.6% versus 13.4%; P = 0.013), and 3-vessel coronary artery disease (76.7% versus 65.9%; P = 0.024). Postoperatively, the elderly had a higher incidence of red blood cell transfusion (28.8% versus 9.0%; P = 0.001), atrial fibrillation (37.6% versus 11.7%; P = 0.001), and overall rate of complications (46.6% versus 23.4%; P = 0.001). Mortality rate and length of stay were 5.5% and 7.9 +/- 0.4 days for the elderly versus 1.0% and 6.4 +/- 0.4 days for those < 70 years old (P = 0.004 and P = 0.008), respectively. Of those > or = 70 years old, 34% were discharged in < or = 5 days, 64% in < or = 7 days, and 82% in < or = 10 days versus 64%, 85%, and 93%, respectively, for younger patients (P = 0.001 for all). Multivariate analysis of preoperative variables identified age (P < 0.001), female gender (P < 0.001), hypertension (P = 0.017), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P = 0.002), preoperative intra-aortic balloon pumping (P = 0.002), and body surface area (P = 0.003) as significantly related to length of stay. However, when the postoperative variables found to be different by univariate analysis are added to the model, age is only marginally significant (P = 0.079), and red blood cell transfusion and atrial fibrillation are the strongest predictors of increased length of stay, along with intra-aortic balloon pumping and pneumonia (P < 0.001 for all).

These data suggest that extraordinary modifications of clinical pathways are not needed for success with elderly patients. The increased length of stay is largely attributable to the increased incidence of atrial fibrillation.