LAUSR

OBJECTIVE Postoperative atrial fibrillation (PoAF) is a significant complication that may occur after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgeries. High-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) therapy has recently been used in adult patients. In this current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of early HFNO treatment after extubation on the development of postoperative atrial fibrillation, in patient groups at risk for PoAF. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients who underwent isolated CABG surgery in our clinic between October 2021 and January 2022 and had a preoperative HATCH score of above 2, were retrospectively included in this study. After the extubation, patients who were followed-up with HFNO were defined as Group 1, and patients who were followed-up with a standard oxygen treatment were determined as Group 2. RESULTS Group 1 consisted of thirty-seven patients with a median age of 56 (ranging between 37 and 75) years, while Group 2 had seventy-one patients with a median age of 58 (ranging between 41 and 71) years (p=0.357). The groups were similar in terms of gender, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, body mass index, and ejection fraction. The need for positive inotropic support and incidence of PoAF was significantly higher in Group 2 (p=0.022, p=0.017, respectively). CONCLUSIONS In this study, we showed that HFNO treatment can reduce the rates of PoAF in high-risk patient groups.