title: Obstructive sleep apnea and postoperative complications in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a need for preventive strategies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is very frequent and often unrecognized in surgical patients. OSA is associated with perioperative complications. We evaluated the effects of OSA on postoperative complications and hospital outcomes in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Candidates of elective CABG were evaluated by the Berlin questionnaire for OSA. After surgery, patients were assessed for postoperative complications, re-admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), duration of intubation, re-intubation, days spent in the ICU and the hospital.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We studied 61 patients who underwent CABG from which 25 (40.9%) patients had OSA. Patients with OSA had higher body mass index (29.5 ± 3.9 vs. 26.0 ± 3.7 kg/m(2), P = 0.003) and higher frequency of hypertension (68.0% vs. 30.5%, P = 0.003), dyslipidemia (36.0% vs. 5.5%, P = 0.004), and pulmonary disease (16.0 vs. 2.7%, P = 0.08). Regarding the surgical outcomes, OSA patients had longer intubation duration (0.75 ± 0.60 vs. 0.41 ± 0.56 days, P = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obstructive sleep apnea is frequent, but unrecognized among patients undergoing CABG. In these patients, OSA is associated with prolonged intubation duration. Preventing these problems may be possible by early diagnosis and management of OSA in cardiac surgery patients. Further studies with larger sample of patients and longer follow-ups are required in this regard.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran ; Bamdad Sleep Research Center, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Amra
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Nasim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Niknam
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Chamran Hospital, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen Mir Mohammad
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rabbani
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Pulmonology, Center of Sleep Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fietze
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Pulmonology, Center of Sleep Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Penzel
keywords: Cardiac surgery; coronary artery bypass grafting; coronary artery disease; obstructive sleep apnea