Incidence of arrhythmias after thoracic surgery: Thoracotomy versus video-assisted thoracoscopy

Purpose: Atrial arrhythmias, especially supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and atrial fibrillation, are common after thoracotomy and lung surgery. The re are few existing data on the incidence of postoperative arrhythmias afte r video-assisted thoracoscopy (VAT). The purpose of the present investigati on was to retrospectively determine the incidence of postoperative arrhythm ias in patients who underwent VAT compared with those who underwent thoraco tomy, and which factors are associated with an increased risk for arrhythmi as in both groups. Design: A retrospective investigation. Setting: A metropolitan university hospital. Participants: The medical records of 124 patients who underwent thoracotomy and 81 patients who underwent VAT over a 2-year period were reviewed. Measurements and Main Results: There was a 17% incidence of atrial arrhythm ias after thoracotomy and 10% after VAT, but the difference was not statist ically significant. In both groups, atrial fibrillation was the most common atrial arrhythmia. Conclusion: Patients receiving digoxin were at higher risk for postoperativ e arrhythmias. Patients older than 65 years were at risk for arrhythmias af ter thoracotomy and patients older than 80 years were at risk for arrhythmi as after VAT. Patients who had postoperative arrhythmias had prolonged hosp ital stays compared with patients who did not have arrhythmias. Copyright ( C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.