Why the study?
Does minimally invasive cardiac surgery reduce resource usage, costs, and length of stay in patients undergoing coronary artery surgery?
Does minimally invasive cardiac surgery reduce resource usage, costs, and length of stay in patients undergoing coronary artery surgery?
Early literature suggests minimally invasive (off-pump) coronary surgery may reduce length of stay and hospital costs, but prospective randomized trials are needed for confirmation.
May support lower resource use with off-pump procedures; leaves open confirmation in randomized trials.
"Minimally invasive" approaches to coronary artery surgery include a number of procedures, most of which avoid the use of extracorporeal circulation. Economic considerations have contributed to the rising interest in these techniques. This article reviews current literature and potential ways in which these procedures may reduce overall costs. Several studies have reported decreased mean length of stay and overall hospital costs in patients undergoing off-bypass or "beating heart" procedures. Most of these studies have included small numbers of patients and have lacked long-term follow-up data. Prospective randomized trials are needed to conclusively establish these early findings. Copyright© 1999 by W. B. Saunders Company.
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Ghotbi et al. (1999) studied this question.
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