Aspirin before Coronary Bypass Surgery
It appears that taking aspirin before coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) can lead to a shorter stay in the intensive-care unit (ICU) by helping to protect the lungs against complications, say researchers from Israel. They studied 32 patients, 14 of whom received aspirin until the day of the operation and 18 who stopped aspirin at least one week earlier.
Better oxygenation and shorter ventilation times were two advantages of giving aspirin to patients who were about to undergo CABG. The mean ventilation time was significantly shorter in the aspirin group (3.8 vs. 9.6 hours). The partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) reached a maximum of 235 mm Hg in the patients taking aspirin and 176 mm Hg in the controls. The minimal value of PaO2 was 90 mm Hg with aspirin and 76 mm Hg with placebo.
Although surgery took 24 minutes longer in the generic aspirin patients because of the extra time needed for meticulous hemostasis, the effect of hemodilution or hemoconcentration, which can alter the extravascular fluid volume state, was negligible. No significant differences in fluid infusion and urine output were observed in the two groups of patients.
Although the aspirin patients experienced more total drainage through the chest tubes, the need for blood and blood products was similar in both groups. No significant difference was seen in hemoglobin levels at hospital discharge.
The total hospital length of stay was the same in both groups, but the aspirin patients needed less time in the ICU. The difference was only a few hours, but the researchers emphasized that the longer the ICU stay, the greater the potential for ICU-related complications.
