WAKE-UP CALL FOR CARDIAC SURGEONS

Tell me, how much of a dent have YOU put into the incidence of POAF since you started in this game? How long have you lived with this morbidity amongst your patients as something intractable? You've tried all the usual potions and elixirs, have you not? Beta-blockers. Calcium channel blockers. Potassium channel blockers. High-dose steroids. And you end up with a 12-lead ECG, warfarin and cardio-aversion instead. What a waste of time.

So, its complicated. You like that phrase. It's a good way to say not YOUR fault entirely. And yes, it's complicated. But not as much as you pretend. Retained Blood shed after surgery and NOT properly evacuated from around the heart contributes to the incidence of POAF in the same way that alcohol contributes to vehicular mortality. There are a dozen reasons why something happens or doesn't happen. But ONE risk factor is CLEARLY evident in the emergence of POAF. Retained Blood. The biological destruction of shed red cells, the proliferation of white cells recruited by a switched on immune system DIRECTLY damage the myocardium and leads to cell death, tissue swelling, chamber deformation and electrical disturbance. And YES, you can measure the related myoglobin and troponin markers along with the massively elevated cytokines to show the damage done once hemoglobin-metabolite induced oxidative stress plays out along with neutrophil cytotoxin release (peroxidative burst).

So you can cross your fingers, give prophylactic drugs to ALL your patients to cover the 30-50% who may get POAF, excuse yourself and think POAF isn't that a big a deal (IT IS) and usually goes away after a month or two.

OR....

You can recognize that "getting the blood out" after surgery is a good principle to observe. Just like hand washing is in respect to infection prevention. Just do it.

Use PleuraFlow ACTIVE Clearance Technology after every procedure and we forecast that you will see less POAF. Less pleural effusions. Less pericardial effusions. Shorter vent-times. Less infection. Shorter ICU stays and lower costs. All of this is already published. What do you mean you have't read it yet? Start here:

https://www.annalsthoracicsurgery.org/article/S0003-4975(17)31095-0/abstract

But don't stop there. Read the science. Make the changes. Adopt the new best practice. Your patients deserve it. And after all the years YOU have spent honing your art and craft, YOU deserve it.

"In the first 48hrs after cardio-thoracic surgery, chest drain patency MUST be ACTIVELY maintained".

That's it. Talk to your ICU Chief today and DO something. It's easy. There's no Pharma involved. The cost-benefit is POSITIVE. And your numbers will get better. Lower costs. Better outcomes. Guaranteed. Seriously, are you still thinking about this?

www.clearflow.com