OFF-PUMP CORONARY-BYPASS GRAFTING - HOW TO USE THE OCTOPUS TISSUE STABILIZER

Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting requires immobilization of th e coronary artery. A suction device (Octopus Tissue Stabilizer), attac hed to the epicardium and connected rigidly to the operating table rai l, was used through limited and full surgical access for single-vessel and multivessel arterial revascularization, respectively. An outline for its application, as used by us to construct 122 anastomoses in 70 patients, including posterior wall grafting (in 9 patients) and sequen tial grafting on the anterior wall (in 17 patients), is presented. (C) 1998 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.