Comparison Between Thoracotomy and Sternotomy in Repair of Atrial Septal Defects

Vedat Erentuğ, Başar Sareyyüpoğlu, Adil Polat, Hasan Basri Erdoğan, Altuğ Tuncer, Kaan Kırali, Gökhan İpek, Esat Akıncı, Cevat Yakut

Kartal Koşuyolu Yüksek İhtisas Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Kalp ve Damar Cerrahisi Kliniği, İstanbul

Background: We evaluated the clinical results of different surgical strategies for atrial septal defect closure.

Methods: Between 1997 and 2003, a total of 87 patients (23 males, 64 females; mean age 24.3±12.6 years; range 2 to 63 years) underwent conventional sternotomy (n=45) or right anterior thoracotomy (n=42) for all types of atrial septal defects.

Results: Compared with the sternotomy group, patients who received thoracotomy were mobilized earlier, required less analgesic therapy, and had a shorter intensive care unit stay and hospitalization.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that right anterior thoracotomy may be a highly preferred approach in closure of atrial septal defects due to its favorable cosmetic results and a more rapid patient recovery.

Keywords : Cardiac surgical procedures/methods; esthetics; heart septal defects, atrial/surgery; sternum/surgery; surgical procedures, minimally invasive/methods; thoracotomy/methods; wound healing

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