Gender Differences in In-Hospital Outcomes After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Abstract Women historically have a greater risk of operative mortality than men after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). There is paucity of contemporary data in gender outcomes of surgical revascularization, and understanding modifiable factors that contribute to gender differences are critical for quality improvement and practice change. We, therefore, sought to examine whether the gender gap in CABG outcomes is closing in the contemporary era by conducting a retrospective analysis from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database from 2003 through 2012. We included all patients who underwent isolated CABG surgery (n=2,272,998; female n=623,423 (27.4%); male n=1,649,575 (72.6%)). The annual rate of CABG surgeries decreased by 53.7% in males and 57.8% in females over the 10-year study period. Although IMA use in females was less frequent than in males in 2003 (77.4% vs. 81.9%, p