Open Heart Surgery: The First Three Years’ Experience at Lampang Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To review the results of the first three years of experience in treating patients at the Cardiovascular
and Thoracic Surgery Unit of Lampang Hospital, and to compare these results with those obtained from standard
databases such as the first National Adult Cardiac Surgical Database Report 2011 of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons
of Thailand, the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Society of Thoracic
Surgeons national database.
Materials and Methods: We reviewed the medical records of the initial 766 cases of open heart surgery at
Lampang Hospital between January 2010 and December 2012. Patient’s demographic characteristics, preoperative
New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, diagnosis of heart disease, operation, postoperative course, morbidity,
and short-term follow up were reviewed.
Results: There were 410 women and 356 men, with an average age of 44.5 years (range: from 12 days to 82
years). Among these, 76 patients (10 %) were NYHA class 1, 405 patients (53%) were NYHA class 2, 163 patients (21
%) were NYHA class 3, and 122 patients (16 %) were NYHA class 4. Acquired heart disease was diagnosed in 660
patients (86%) and 106 patients (14 %) were diagnosed with congenital heart diseases. Extubation within 6 hours
after operation could be achieved in 567 patients (74%) and 628 patients (82%) stayed in the ICU for only 1 day. Death
within 30 days of operation occurred in 18 patients (2.3% mortality). Most of our patients were NYHA class 1
postoperatively.
Conclusion: As a newly opened cardiothoracic surgery center, we provide our services to patients in an
effective and timely manner while achieving acceptable morbidity and mortality rates for a variety of operative
procedures.