Kemal Uzun, Hakan Kara, Davut Uğurlu

Keywords: Internal mammary artery, pulmonary function tests.

Abstract

Background: Although it impairs the pulmonary functions, internal mammary artery harvesting with pedunculated or skeletonized technique has been proved to have better long-term outcomes. Even if there is no full consent, some reports insisting on the advantages of skeletonized LIMA harvesting to decrease pulmonary side effect. Our aim is to compare the postoperative respiratory functional status in patients using these two techniques. Method: Totally 80 patients were included in the study and were divided into two groups; in group P (n=40) LIMA was dissected as a pedunculated graft and in group S (n=40) LIMA was prepared as a skeletonized graft. Pulmonary functions were evaluated on the 6th and 7th postoperative days and were compared between the two groups. Results: Forced expiratory volume in the 1st second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were the measured data. The decrease in FVC was more prominent in group P (p