OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of conventional coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) compared to the off-pump procedure (OPCAB). METHODS: Based on randomised trials found in PubMed and Science Citation Index, an overall odds ratio and 95% confidence interval was calculated for the combined endpoint of mortality, stroke and myocardial infarction. RESULTS: The 18 randomised trials included 1584 patients (783 OPCAB, 801 CABG). The odds ratio was 0.73 (95% CI=0.26; 2.04) at 2-week post-surgery, 0.75 (0.39; 1.42) at 1-month post-surgery, 0.55 (0.28; 1.08) at 3-month post-surgery, and 0.66 (0.38; 1.15) at 1-year post-surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of this meta-analysis shows favourable results for OPCAB for the combined endpoint of mortality, stroke and myocardial infarction at short and long term follow-up. However, none of the risk reductions reach statistical significance at the conventional level. Based on our results OPCAB appears to be equivalent to CABG.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
VANDERHEIJDEN et al. (2004) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: