Journal of the American Heart Association
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Background There remains uncertainty regarding the second-best conduit after the internal thoracic artery in coronary artery bypass grafting. Few studies directly compared the clinical results of the radial artery ( RA ), right internal thoracic artery ( RITA ), and saphenous vein ( SV ). No network meta-analysis has compared these 3 strategies. ⋯ The risk of DSWI in bilateral internal thoracic artery studies was higher when the skeletonization technique was not used. Conclusions The use of the RA or the RITA is associated with a similar and statistically significant long-term clinical benefit compared with the SV. There are no differences in operative risk or complications between the 2 arterial conduits, but DSWI remains a concern with bilateral ITA when skeletonization is not used.