Normothermic Versus Hypothermic Heart Surgery: Evaluation of Post-Operative Complications

The recently introduced technique of warm heart surgery may be a very effective method of myocardial protection. Although the systemic effects of hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass are well known, the effects of warm heart surgery are not. In a prospective trial, 60 patients undergoing an elective coronary artery bypass grafting were randomly allocated to normothermic(30 patients) and hypothermic(30 patients) group and assessments regarding renal, respiratory and neurologic complications and bleeding volume was done. Resulst: Eighty percent of hypothermic group and 86% of normothermic group were males (p=0/36). Mean age was 56.4 and 56.1 years in hypothermic and normothermic groups, respectively. Groups had similar central temperature, shivering, nipride usage, intake and output, bleeding volume, neurologic complications and ICU staying(p>0/05) but inotrop usage and incidence of phrenic nerve palsy were higher in hypothermic group(p<0/05). Hypothermic procedure leads to a lower rate of respiratory complications, therefore we recommend replacing hypothermic procedure by normothermic one.