Epicardial ablation
The surgical ablation was performed with a mean operative time of 101.3 ± 25.7 minutes. In the BB group, Bachmann’s bundle ablation was performed in all patients. At the end of the epicardial ablation, 56 patients (93.3%) needed electrical cardioversion for sinus rhythm restoration, 27/30 (90%) in the Bachmann’s group and 29 (96.6%) in the conventional group (p=NS).
Mean hospital stay was 8 ± 3 days, with no differences between the two groups. Twenty-three patients (38 %) were discharged in sinus rhythm and anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs) were administered in all patients: 52 (86.7%) were treated with amiodarone and 8 (13.3%) with flecainide.
Post-operative complications (i.e., within 30 postoperative days) are reported in Table 2. One patient (BB group) had a serious bleeding requiring surgical revision; the source was identified at the level of the chest drain site insertion. One patient (CONV group) had delirium 1 day after surgery, with a normal brain CT. Two patients (3.3%), one per group, had pneumothorax, with a need for drainage. Two patients (3.3%), one per group, developed superficial wound dehiscence. Right phrenic nerve paresis was observed in 3 patients in the BB group (10.0%) and 2 in the CONV group (6.6%) (p=NS). Four of these patients had complete regression of phrenic nerve function after a maximum of 5 months. No patient required sternotomy and no significant differences in serious postoperative complications were observed between groups.