Study Identifies Recommendations To Reduce Pneumonia Risk Following Bypass Surgery

An AHRQ-funded study published in Annals of Thoracic Surgery identified three strategies to significantly lower patients’ pneumonia risk following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Pneumonia is the most common healthcare-associated infection following CABG, but strategies to lower risk had not been established. After researchers conducted a literature review and interviewed healthcare personnel, they developed several recommendations that were then implemented at 18 Michigan hospitals. Among nearly 2,500 patients undergoing CABG from 2016 to 2017, three treatment measures—lung-protective ventilation, progressive postoperative ambulation, and ending postoperative ventilation before the six-hour mark—were shown to significantly reduce pneumonia risk. Postoperative bronchodilator therapy was associated with higher pneumonia risk, and early extubation had no significant impact. Implementing the more successful pneumonia prevention strategies may help reduce this major post-CABG complication, authors concluded. Access the abstract.