title: Simultaneous coronary artery bypass grafting and abdominal aneurysm repair decreases stay and costs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with large (> or = 5.0 cm) abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) frequently have marked associated coronary artery disease. We hypothesized that a single operation for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)/AAA would provide equivalent, if not improved, patient care while decreasing postoperative length of stay and hospital costs compared with staged procedures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven patients to date have undergone a combined procedure at our institution. Ten underwent CABG followed by AAA repair, whereas one patient received an aortic valve replacement before aneurysm repair. We performed a retrospective analysis comparing the postoperative length of stay and hospital costs for this single procedure to a combined cohort of 20 randomly selected patients who either received AAA repair (n = 10) or standard CABG (n = 10) during the same time period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No operative mortality has been reported. There were no episodes of neurologic deficit or cardiac complication after these procedures. The postoperative length of stay was significantly decreased for the CABG/AAA group compared with the combined postoperative length of stay for the AAA plus CABG group (7.44+/-0.88 days versus 14.10+/-2.00; p = 0.012). Total hospital costs were also significantly decreased for the CABG/AAA group compared with total hospital costs for the AAA plus CABG group ($22,941+/-$1,933 versus $34,076+/-$2,534; p = 0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A single operation for coronary revascularization and AAA repair is safe and effective. Simultaneous CABG and AAA repair substantially decreases postoperative length of stay and hospital costs while avoiding possible interim aneurysm rupture and repeat anesthesia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville 22908, USA.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Parrino
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hurst
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Shockey
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Tribble
authors.forename: I L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Kron
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000191:economics* / Q000601:surgery*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States