Key result
Surgical AF ablation during CABG is linked to ~115% higher deep sternal wound infection risk.
Why the study?
Guidelines recommend concomitant surgical ablation for AF in selected patients with pre-existing AF undergoing CABG, but UK temporal trends, early clinical outcomes, and associated factors remained to be assessed.
Does concomitant surgical atrial fibrillation ablation affect in-hospital clinical outcomes in patients with pre-existing atrial fibrillation undergoing isolated CABG?
Cohort (n=5,337)
Yes
Does concomitant surgical atrial fibrillation ablation affect in-hospital clinical outcomes in patients with pre-existing atrial fibrillation undergoing isolated CABG?
Absolute Event Rate: 2.04% vs 0.95%
p-value: p=0.021
In patients with pre-existing AF undergoing CABG, concomitant surgical AF ablation increases operative times and deep sternal wound infection risk without affecting in-hospital mortality or stroke.
Low ablation uptake with longer operative times and wound infections but no short-term mortality or stroke differences; leaves open long-term benefits in isolated CABG.
Introduction Guidelines recommend concomitant surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) in selected patients with pre-existing AF undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We assessed temporal trends, early clinical outcomes, and factors associated with surgical AF ablation in patients undergoing isolated CABG in the United Kingdom. Methods Retrospective observational cohort study including all patients with pre-existing AF undergoing first-time, elective or urgent isolated CABG from 2011 to April 2019 using the United Kingdom National Cardiac Surgical Audit database. Temporal trends, in-hospital outcomes, and factors associated with concomitant surgical AF ablation were evaluated. Results A total of 5337 patients were included; 747 (14.0%) underwent concomitant surgical AF ablation. The annual ablation rate ranged from 11.2% to 16.3% during the study period. After inverse probability treatment weighting, surgical AF ablation was associated with longer cardiopulmonary bypass time (103 [79, 129] vs 82 [63, 104] minutes, p < 0.0001), aortic cross-clamp time (58 [41, 77] vs 48 [35, 64] minutes, p < 0.0001), and deep sternal wound infection (2.04% vs 0.95%, p = 0.021). There were no differences in the incidence of in-hospital mortality, return to theatre bleeding/tamponade, postoperative stroke, or postoperative dialysis. Conclusion In UK patients with pre-existing AF undergoing isolated CABG, concomitant surgical AF ablation was used in approximately one in seven cases. It was associated with longer operative times and a higher weighted incidence of deep sternal wound infection, but no statistically significant differences were observed in mortality, stroke, dialysis or return to theatre. Longer-term data are needed to define freedom from atrial tachyarrthymia and stroke, anticoagulation use, and survival.
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Chan et al. (2026) conducted a cohort in Pre-existing atrial fibrillation undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (n=5,337). Concomitant surgical atrial fibrillation ablation vs. Isolated CABG without surgical AF ablation was evaluated on Deep sternal wound infection (p=0.021). Concomitant surgical AF ablation during isolated CABG was associated with a higher incidence of deep sternal wound infection (2.04% vs 0.95%, p=0.021) but no difference in mortality.
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