Leg wound complications at the site of vein harvest for coronary artery bypass graft, although infrequent, cause significant morbidity. Pneumatic pressure therapy is valuable in venous and lymphatic diseases, but its usefulness after leg vein harvest has not been determined. A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted on 200 patients, half of whom had sequential pneumatic leg pump therapy postoperatively. Wound healing, extent of lower limb edema, patient satisfaction, and the financial implications of pneumatic pressure therapy were assessed. In the study group, 71 patients had satisfactory wound healing vs. 23 in the control group. The leg wound infection rate in the study group was 3% vs. 15% in the control group ( p = 0.003). Lower limb edema was significantly reduced in the study group in the early postoperative period ( p < 0.05), and the mean postoperative length of hospital stay was reduced by 2.6 days in patients given pneumatic pressure therapy ( p = 0.003). The sequential pneumatic leg pump is an effective, inexpensive, and convenient device that reduces leg wound complications after coronary artery bypass grafting.

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Clinical lung transplant was first performed in Hong Kong in 1995. In the early years, the volume of activity was very low. There has been a clear trend of increasing volume in the past few years. The recipient pathology is very different from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) database, with complete absence of cystic fibrosis and alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, and a predominance of diseases of the pulmonary circulation. Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) has a much higher representation on the waiting list than the ISHLT. The survival of patients who received a lung transplant in Hong Kong compares favorably with international data.