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Recent advances in cardiac stabilization have facilitated off-pump bypass surgery on the beating heart. Advocates of this technique suggest the potential for less morbidity and mortality, and for shorter hospitalizations, than with on-pump CABG. Critics have raised concerns about the greater technical demands of off-pump CABG.
In this study at 3 hospitals in the Netherlands, 281 patients were randomized to either off-pump or on-pump CABG. In 10 patients randomized to off-pump CABG, cardiopulmonary bypass was used; off-pump CABG was performed in 5 patients assigned to on-pump CABG. Data were analyzed on an intent-to-treat basis. (Two of the study authors have relationships with the manufacturer of the stabilizer used in this study.)
The on-pum…