How Safe Is it to Train Residents to Perform Coronary Surgery With Multiple Arterial Grafting? Nineteen Years of Training at a Single Institution.
Academic Article
Overview
abstract
The learning curve of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with multiple arterial grafting (MAG) is perceived to be associated with increased surgical morbidity and potentially poorer long-term outcomes. We compared short-term outcomes and long-term survival in patients who underwent CABG with MAG performed by attending surgeons or resident trainees at a single institution over a period of 19 years. Using our institutional database, we identified 3039 patients undergoing MAG from 1996-2015. Of those, 958 (32%) were operated on by residents and 2081 (68%) by attending surgeons. Propensity score matching and mixed-effects models were used to compare the 2 groups. Operative mortality rate was 0.3% and 0.4% among patients operated by residents and attending surgeons, respectively (P = 0.71), with no significant differences among the groups in postoperative complications. After a mean follow-up time of 11 ± 4 years, survival probability at 5, 10, and 15 years was 95.1% ± 0.7% vs 96.4% ± 0.6%, 87.0% ± 1.1% vs 87.8% ± 1.1%, and 76.6.% ± 1.8% vs 77.6% ± 1.8% in the resident and attending surgeon group, respectively. Resident and attending surgeon cases showed comparable risk of death (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.01; 95% CI: 0.80-1.28; P = 0.92). The equipoise between the 2 groups was confirmed among cases receiving bilateral internal thoracic arteries only (HR = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.54-1.43; P = 0.61), radial artery (HR = 1.22; 95% CI: 0.92-1.61; P = 0.15), or their combination (HR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.33-1.65; P = 0.47). The present analysis confirms that adequately supervised trainees can perform CABG with MAG without compromising patient safety and long-term survival.
