Objective Myocardial protection is the most important in cardiac surgery. We compared
our modified single-dose long-acting lignocaine-based blood cardioplegia
with short-acting St Thomas 1 blood cardioplegia in patients undergoing
single valve replacement.MethodsA total of 110 patients who underwent single (aortic or mitral) valve
replacement surgery were enrolled. Patients were divided in two groups based
on the cardioplegia solution used. In group 1 (56 patients), long-acting
lignocaine based-blood cardioplegia solution was administered as a single
dose while in group 2 (54 patients), standard St Thomas IB (short-acting
blood-based cardioplegia solution) was administered and repeated every 20
minutes. All the patients were compared for preoperative baseline
parameters, intraoperative and all the postoperative parameters.ResultsWe did not find any statistically significant difference in preoperative
baseline parameters. Cardiopulmonary bypass time were 73.8±16.5 and
76.4±16.9 minutes (P=0.43) and cross clamp time were
58.9±10.3 and 66.3±11.2 minutes (P=0.23) in
group 1 and group 2, respectively. Mean of maximum inotrope score was
6.3±2.52 and 6.1±2.13 (P=0.65) in group 1 and
group 2, respectively. We also did not find any statistically significant
difference in creatine-phosphokinase-MB (CPK-MB), Troponin-I levels, lactate
level and cardiac functions postoperatively.Conclusion This study proves the safety and efficacy of long-acting lignocaine-based
single-dose blood cardioplegia compared to the standard short-acting
multi-dose blood cardioplegia in patients requiring the single valve
replacement. Further studies need to be undertaken to establish this
non-inferiority in situations of complex cardiac procedures especially in
compromised patients.