Transvenous endocardial pacemaker pacing in thoracoscopic cardiac surgery

Background: Temporary cardiac pacing is frequently required during heart surgery due to life-threatening complications of arrhythmias. The conventional method of epicardial pacing could have risks such as bleeding and myocardial tears. Transvenous endocardial pacing provides another option. The efficiency of transvenous epicardial and endocardial pacing were compared in this study. Methods: We performed a retrospective study and reviewed medical records in patients who received either thoracoscopic cardiac surgery with transvenous endocardial pacing or median sternotomy with transvenous epicardial pacing between June 2019 and January 2021. Patients were assigned into two groups depending on the surgical type and pacing method. Preoperative patient characteristics and perioperative outcomes were collected. The efficiencies of endocardial and epicardial pacing were compared and analyzed in SPSS. Results: A total of 68 patients were included. Thirty-five (51.5%) patients were in the thoracoscopic cardiac surgery group with transvenous endocardial pacing. Thirty-three (48.5%) patients were in the median sternotomy group with transvenous epicardial pacing. Intensive care unit (ICU) time (p = 0.014), in-hospital duration (p = 0.036), operation time (p = 0.005), and the 24-h drainage volume (p < 0.001) showed significant differences between the two groups. There was no significant difference between the pre- and post-operative heart rate and rhythm compared between two groups. Conclusions: Compared with transvenous epicardial pacing, transvenous endocardial pacing showed no significant differences in heart rate and arrhythmia during the perioperative period. Transvenous endocardial pacing was also associated with better operative measurements.