Comparing 3-month and 1-year patency rates of no-touch great saphenous vein and pedicled left internal mammary artery in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting: a prospective non-inferiority study

TL;DR

This study compares the effectiveness of two graft techniques in heart surgery and finds they perform similarly over time.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the no-touch GSV graft is a viable alternative to LIMA in OPCABG with comparable patency rates.

Findings

No-touch GSV grafts showed no significant difference in patency compared to LIMA at 3 and 12 months.

The no-touch technique provides graft patency comparable to the LIMA in off-pump coronary bypass surgery.

Abstract

In this study, we compared the 3- and 12-month patency rates of great saphenous vein (GSV) grafts harvested using the no-touch technique and pedicled left internal mammary artery (LIMA) in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG). We also evaluated the short-term efficacy of the grafts harvested using the no-touch technique.

A non-inferiority study was conducted between June 2019 and August 2022, involving 106 patients who underwent OPCABG using the “no-touch” technique to harvest grafts from the LIMA and GSV. We aimed to assess and compare the patency rates of the pedicled LIMA graft and the no-touch GSV graft at both the 3- and 12-month postoperative intervals. Additionally, we sought to evaluate the advantages of employing the no-touch GSV graft in the context of OPCABG.

There was no statistically significant difference in patency between the no-touch GSV graft and the LIMA at 3 and 12 months post-OPCABG (P < 0.001).

The no-touch technique can provide graft patency comparability with the LIMA; therefore, in addition to the internal mammary artery, the no-touch GSV is recommended as a graft alternative.

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