Profile of patients undergoing to coronary artery bypass grafting: implications for nursing care

Abstract

The severity of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has increased considerably in recent decades. This contemporaneous cohort study aimed to evaluate the clinical and surgical profile of patients undergoing CABG. Data were retrieved from medical records of 58 inpatients in hospital of reference in cardiology in Porto Alegre - Rio Grande do Sul, in the year of 2006, from the day of hospitalization until discharge, or during the 7 first days of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU).Patients were mostly males (70.7%) with a mean age 65.3+9.7 years; the most prevalent comorbidities were systemic arterial hypertension (86.2%), dyslipidemia (60.3%) and diabetes (36.2%). Forty-eight patients (82.8%) were submitted to CABG, with extracorporeal circulation in 39.7% of the cases. Postoperative complications, represented mostly by atrial fibrillation (AF) (20.7%), were observed in 48.3% of the patients. Correlations were observed between age, length of stay in the ICU and incidence of postoperative complications (p<0.05). Most patients undergoing CABG were male, aged and with classical risk factors for ischemic heart disease, among which AF is the most prevalent complication. The characteristics of patients undergoing myocardial revascularization surgery are of great importance for the nursing team to plan and deliver best quality care to ICU patients.