Reoperative Cardiac Surgery – Part II

Abstract

The preparation for a reoperative cardiac surgical case was covered in Part I of this two part review [Tribble 2018]. Part II will cover primarily intraoperative strategies and techniques.  As noted in Part I, there has been surprisingly little written about the strategies and techniques of reoperative cardiac surgery. Thus, the goal of this two-part review is to collect and collate some of the lessons, abjurations, and tenets related to reoperative cardiac surgery that may be valuable to cardiac surgeons, especially those in training or early in their careers.Some time-honored admonitions that can apply to all complex operations, often enunciated by “old salts,” bear repeating:•  Everything matters. Nothing is neutral.•  Some say that a “life or death” decision is made, on average, every 10 seconds during cardiac surgery. •  If something can go wrong, presume that it will.•  If it seems absolutely impossible for something to go wrong, it will anyway, at least some of the time.•  When something does go wrong, it generally does so all at once.•  If what you are doing is working, keep on doing it. If it ain’t working, do something else.