Effects of intraoperative diltiazem infusion on flow changes in arterial and venous grafts in coronary artery bypass graft surgery

This study aimed to show the effects of intra-operative diltiazem infusion on flow in arterial and venous grafts in coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Hundred fourty patients with a total of 361 grafts [205 (57%) arterial and 156 (43%) venous] underwent isolated coronary surgery. All the grafts were measured by intraoperative transit time flow meter intra-operatively. Group A (n=70) consisted of patients who received diltiazem infusion (dose of 2.5 microgram/kg/min), and Group B (n=70) didn't receive diltiazem infusion. Mean graft flow values of left internal mammary artery were 53 ml/min in Group A and 40 ml/min in Group B (P