European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Mar 2015
Review Meta AnalysisWhich cannulation (axillary cannulation or femoral cannulation) is better for acute type A aortic dissection repair? A meta-analysis of nine clinical studies.
There is a trend towards using the axillary artery cannulation (AXC) site for cardiopulmonary bypass surgery in patients requiring acute type A aortic dissection (AAD) repair. However, AXC has not been established as a routine procedure, because there is controversy about its clinical advantage when compared with femoral artery cannulation (FAC). This meta-analysis assesses major short-term outcomes in patients undergoing acute AAD repair with AXC or FAC using non-randomized retrospective studies dating from 1992 to 2011 comparing AXC and FAC for major outcomes. ⋯ The incidence of malperfusion did not differ [odds ratio, 0.84, 95% CI (0.37, 1.90), χ(2) = 2.25, P = 0.67]. Because no study was a randomized trial, our results are more uncertain than indicated by the 95% CI. Nevertheless, AXC seems to give better short-term mortality and neurological dysfunction rates than FAC.