Can Lactate Values Predict Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation Following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery? A Prospective Observational Study.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship and predictive significance of routinely measured serum lactate values with postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) in patients following isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHOD: Between 2022 and 2023, 250 patients who underwent isolated CABG were prospectively examined. Patients were divided into two groups, those with POAF (Group 1) and those without POAF (Group 2). Preoperative and postoperative 0th, 2nd, 4th, 8th, and 24th-hour lactate values were measured. RESULT: POAF was observed in 58 (23.2%) patients. There was no statistical difference between the groups in terms of ejection fraction, number of bypass grafts, cross-clamping time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, drainage, and beating operation rates. No statistically significant difference was found between the preoperative values and postoperative lactate values at zero, two, four, eight, and 24 hours between the groups. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of the difference between postoperative 0th, 4th, 8th, and 24th-hour and preoperative serum lactate levels. No statistically significant difference was found between postoperative 4th, 8th, and 24th-hour and postoperative 0th-hour serum lactate levels. Mortality, cerebrovascular accident, length of intensive care unit stay, and hospital stay were higher in Group 1. CONCLUSION: We found that early postoperative lactate values were higher in patients with POAF than in those without POAF, although this difference did not reach statistical significance. Lactate values alone are insufficient to predict POAF following CABG.