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Intraoperative heart rate variability of a cardiac surgeon himself in coronary artery bypass grafting surgery

^a Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Gifu Prefectural Tajimi Hospital, 5-161 Maebata-cho, Tajimi, Gifu, 507-8522, Japan
^b Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, National Nagoya Medical Center, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
^c Department of Cardiac Laboratory, Gifu Prefectural Tajimi Hospital, Tajimi, Gifu, Japan

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +81-572-22-5311; fax: +81-572-25-1246.

E-mail address: son-minho{at}pref.gifu.lg.jp (M.-H. Song).

The mental strain of a cardiac surgeon may differ when he performs coronary surgery from and when he only assists in performing coronary surgery. In 50 selected cases of on-pump heart arrested coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), an attending-consultant surgeon performed 30 procedures of CABG (Group A) and an attending-consultant surgeon supervised the remaining 20 cases of CABG performed by two resident surgeons (Group B). Intraoperative Holter electrocardiograms of the attending-consultant surgeon were recorded and analyzed for heart rate variability (HRV). In Group A, the ratio of low frequency to high frequency was at a peak in the beginning of the operation and gradually decreased toward the end of the operation. In Group B, the ratio of low frequency to high frequency was at a peak in the phase of aortic cross-clamp, coronary anastomosis, and unclamping. When an attending-consultant surgeon performed the operation himself, the most anxious part of the operation was at the beginning and thereafter the level of anxiety gradually declined. In contrast, when he assisted a resident, the highest level of anxiety was when the aortic cross-clamp was in place and out of place and during the coronary anastomosis.

Key Words: Heart rate variability; Mental strain; Coronary artery bypass grafting

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				K. Knobloch eComment: Stress levels of the surgeon within and beyond theoperating room Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery, June 1, 2009; 8(6): 641 - 641. [Full Text] [PDF]