Does a skeletonized internal thoracic artery give fewer postoperative complications than a pedicled artery for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting?

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was 'Does a skeletonized internal thoracic artery (ITA) give fewer postoperative complications than a pedicled artery for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting?' Altogether, 98 papers were found using the reported search, of which 11 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. Papers about patency of skeletonized versus pedicled internal thoracic artery were excluded. The analysed complications were essentially mediastinitis, superficial sternal infection, wound infection, chest pain and pulmonary function. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated. Grafts used were either single ITA (LITA or RITA, left or right, respectively) or bilateral ITAs (BITAs). One prospective randomized controlled trial was identified, which found that benefits of skeletonized harvesting included increased graft length, increased graft flow and decreased incidence of mediastinitis. All of the six studies concerning wound infection demonstrate fewer complications when ITA is skeletonized. One of the three papers describing postoperative mortality demonstrated lower 30-day mortality, but there was no long-term analysis. Three studies describing postoperative chest pain reported a lower score on the visual analogue scale (VAS) within 30 days. One of them indicates that the pedicled group has a significantly greater VAS, pain disability index and short-form McGill Pain questionnaire score at 1 and 3 months. The hospital stay was shorter for three studies conducted on this subject. One study about pulmonary function reported a better ratio of pre-versus postoperative values of forced vital capacity. Despite longer operating times, skeletonization leads to fewer wound infections, reduced chest pain, allows a shorter hospital stay and better preserves pulmonary function.