Introduction: Coronary artery bypass graft is often the treatment of choice for patients who suffer from unstable angina. We do not know whether this condition adds morbidity in this scenario.
Objective: To compare the outcomes of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft with unstable angina framework with patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft showed no unstable angina.
Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Unstable angina was defined as acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation and without enzymatic alteration and/or class IV angina.
Results: Between February 1996 and July 2010, to 2,818 isolated coronary artery bypass graft performed, 1,016 (36.1%) patients had unstable angina. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with preoperative unstable angina used more medications such as acetylsalicylic acid, beta-blocker, heparin (anticoagulation), nitrate and less need for diuretics than patients without unstable angina. Patients with unstable angina used increased monitoring with Swan-Ganz and support with intra-aortic balloon than stable patients. On outcomes, required longer hospitalization (P=0.030) and had a lower death rate (P=0.018) in the post-coronary artery bypass graft alone.
Conclusion: Submit patients to coronary artery bypass graft in the presence of acute coronary syndrome such as unstable angina did not increase the mortality rate.