Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: How I Teach It

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains the most commonly performed cardiac surgical operation, yet <15% of cases are performed off-pump (OPCAB) every year in the United States. 1 D’Agostino R.S. Jacobs J.P. Badhwar V. et al. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database: 2019 Update on Outcomes and Quality. Ann Thorac Surg. 2019; 107: 24-32 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (112) Google Scholar The authors—who had the opportunity to spend part of their training under the mentorship of the senior author (J.D.P.) as faculty (G.T.), surgical fellow (C.M.R.), I-6 resident (E.E.B.), or medical student (A.A.)—collected here 12 technical tips on OPCAB, not routinely found in textbooks, that were developed or consolidated through the approximately 5000 OPCAB cases performed by the senior author (J.D.P.). The goal is to help trainees and young surgeons interested in OPCAB absorb these concepts at earlier stages of their career.