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Abstract
For years, ultrafiltration has been used during cardiac surgery involving cardiopulmonary bypass [CPB] in order to minimize hemodilution. Despite this, current research on the effects of conventional ultrafiltration on adult patients is limited and those studies that do exist often have contradicting results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the postoperative effects of conventional ultrafiltration on lung function, kidney function, the need for blood transfusions, bleeding, and length of intensive care unit stay in adult patients. Data were collected retrospectively from patient charts and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database for 40 patients that underwent myocardial revascularization, valve repair or replacement, or a combination of those surgeries at Aurora St. Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, between January 1, 2017 and October 12, 2017. Half of these patients received conventional ultrafiltration during surgery and the other half did not [controls]. In order to determine the postoperative effects of conventional ultrafiltration, postoperative hematocrit, blood loss, platelet count, ventilation time, length of intensive care stay, creatinine levels, urine output, and the amount of red blood cell transfusions were compared between the two groups. This study found no statistically significant differences between the two groups of patients except for the variable of urine output on postoperative day one, which was higher in the control group. Although there were no differences identified for most measures, a few adverse events were noted. One patient in the control group did suffer from a pleural effusion requiring drainage postoperatively and one patient in the ultrafiltration group suffered from acute kidney failure. The results of this study lead to the conclusion that while there are no obvious benefits to conventional ultrafiltration on this particular patient group, it is not detrimental to patient health. A much larger study should be conducted in order to verify these results.