No Difference after On-Pump Versus Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in Exercise Capacity (pp 324-328)

[Purpose]: Previous studies suggested that off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB) has a shorter length of hospitalization and higher exercise tolerance than conventional coronary artery bypass surgery (CCABG). However, more recent studies reported that there was no significant difference of postoperative physical recovery between OPCAB and CCABG. There are extremely few data available to compare superiority of the postoperative physical recovery, in particular for comparing exercise tolerance after hospitalization. Therefore, in this study, we compared exercise tolerance recovery in three months after operation between CCABG and OPCAB. [Methods]: Forty patients, who underwent coronary bypass surgery and continued more than three months outpatients exercise therapy program, were included in this study. The subjects were divided into two groups according to the type of operation (OPCAB n = 14, CCABG n = 26). We compared retrospectively the results of cardiopulmonary exercise testing before the hospital discharge and three months after operation between two groups. [Results]: There were no significant differences in age, in the period to the postoperative walk independence in the ward and in postoperative exercise tolerance before the hospital discharge and three months after operation between two groups, although the surgical stress such as bleeding in the surgery and time from intubation to extubation was less in OPCAB group. [Conclusion]: The recovery of the postoperative exercise tolerance three months after coronary bypass surgery does not depend on use of the cardiopulmonary bypass during surgery.