MICS CABG is a valuable alternative for patients in need of multivessel CABG. The operation appears at least as safe as OPCAB, and associated with shorter hospital length of stay, less wound infections, and faster postoperative recovery than OPCAB.

Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting is safe, feasible, and associated with excellent outcomes and graft patency at 6 months post-surgery.

Team Situation Awareness (TSA) is one of the critical factors in effective Operating Room (OR) teamwork and can impact patient safety and quality of care. While previous research showed a relationship between situation awareness, as measured by communication events, and team performance, the implications for developing technology to augment and facilitate TSA were not examined. This research aims to further study situation-related communications in the cardiac OR in order to uncover potential degradation in TSA which may lead to adverse events. The communication loop construct-the full cycle of information flow between the participants in the sequence-was used to assess susceptibility to breakdown. Previous research and the findings here suggest that communication loops that are open, non-directed, or with delayed closure, can be susceptible to information loss. These were quantitatively related to communication indicators of TSA such as questions, replies, and announcements. Taken together, both qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that a high proportion of TSA-related communication (63%) can be characterized as susceptible to information loss. The findings were then used to derive requirements and design a TSA augmentative display. The design principles and potential benefits of such a display are outlined and discussed.

Overall, this pilot study implies that a situation display could facilitate better teamwork and team communication in the resuscitation event.

Objective We examined the effects of learning curve on clinical outcomes and operative time in minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting (MICS CABG). Methods We studied 210 consecutive MICS CABG cases performed by the same surgeon, composed of 3 cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)–assisted single-vessel small thoracotomy (SVST), 87 off-pump SVST, 51 CPB-assisted multivessel small thoracotomy (MVST), and 69 off-pump MVST. For each MICS CABG technique, the frequency of early clinical events (mortality, reopening, stroke, myocardial infarction, and revascularization) was compared between the first 25 cases and the remainder. Logarithmic curve regression analysis and a cumulative summation technique were performed to assess the correlation between operative time and the performed number of each technique. Results There was no mortality, and there were 10 conversions to standard sternotomy, all of which were intended as off-pump MVST ( P < 0.001, vs other procedures). Experience was otherwise not associated with perioperative outcome. However, experience numbers correlated with operative time in off-pump SVST and off-pump MVST (122 ± 30 minutes, R2 = 0.18, P < 0.001, and 241 ± 80 minutes, R2 = 0.38, P < 0.001, respectively) but not in CPB-assisted MVST (258 ± 44 minutes, R2 = 0.004, P = 0.7). No complications occurred as a result of CPB assistance. Conclusions Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting can be safely initiated, with a very low perioperative risk. Pump assistance is a good strategy to alleviate some of the learning curve and avoid conversions to sternotomy when initiating a multivessel MICS CABG program. 2009:83–94.