Impact of Surgeon Experience and Centre Volume on Outcome After Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery: Results from the European Multicenter Study on Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (E-CABG) Registry

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of surgeon experience and centre volume on early operative outcomes in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) surgery. Method: Of 7,352 patients in the European Multicenter Study on Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (E-CABG) registry, 1,549 underwent OPCAB and were included in the present analysis. Using adjusted regression analysis, we compared major early adverse events after procedures performed by experienced OPCAB surgeons (i.e., ≥20 cases per year; n=1,201) to those performed by non-OPCAB surgeons (n=348). Furthermore, the same end points were compared between procedures performed by OPCAB surgeons in high OPCAB volume centres (off-pump technique used in >50% of cases; n=894) and low OPCAB volume centres (n=307). Results: In the experienced OPCAB surgeon group, we observed shorter procedure times (β -43.858, 95% confidence interval [CI] -53.322 to -34.393; p