Abstract
Background: Temporary cardiac pacing is frequently required during heart
surgery due to life-threatening complications of arrhythmias. The
conventional method of epicardial pacing could have risks such as
bleeding and myocardial tears. Transvenous endocardial pacing provides
another option. The efficiency of transvenous epicardial and endocardial
pacing were compared in this study. Methods: We performed a
retrospective study and reviewed medical records in patients who
received either thoracoscopic cardiac surgery with transvenous
endocardial pacing or median sternotomy with transvenous epicardial
pacing between June 2019 and January 2021. Patients were assigned into
two groups depending on the surgical type and pacing method.
Preoperative patient characteristics and perioperative outcomes were
collected. The efficiencies of endocardial and epicardial pacing were
compared and analyzed in SPSS. Results: A total of 68 patients were
included. Thirty-five (51.5%) patients were in the thoracoscopic
cardiac surgery group with transvenous endocardial pacing. Thirty-three
(48.5%) patients were in the median sternotomy group with transvenous
epicardial pacing. Intensive care unit (ICU) time (p = 0.014),
in-hospital duration (p = 0.036), operation time (p = 0.005), and the
24-h drainage volume (p < 0.001) showed significant
differences between the two groups. There was no significant difference
between the pre- and post-operative heart rate and rhythm compared
between two groups. Conclusions: Compared with transvenous epicardial
pacing, transvenous endocardial pacing showed no significant differences
in heart rate and arrhythmia during the perioperative period.
Transvenous endocardial pacing was also associated with better operative
measurements.