Abstract WP80: The Heart-brain Connection: Implementing Strategies To Reduce The Rate Of Perioperative Stroke For Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

Abstract

Background: Stroke is a known complication of cardiac surgery. The objective of this study was to implement a systemwide strategy to reduce perioperative stroke after isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery utilizing best practices from cardiothoracic surgery and neurology expertise. Methods: A prospective, quality improvement study of all isolated CABG patients at three hospitals within a multicenter academic healthcare system, in a large metropolitan area, was completed from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. Utilizing Lean methodology, a multidisciplinary team of cardiothoracic surgeons, neurologists, anesthesiologists, certified stroke nurses, and process improvement specialists conducted a gap analysis to identify interventions to decrease the observed to expected (O/E) ratio of risk-adjusted perioperative strokes. The team developed a pre-operative evaluation process for patients with a history of stroke, formalized the utilization of intra-operative epiaortic ultrasound, and deployed education on BE-FAST symptoms and the purpose of stroke alerts to providers, nurses, and ancillary staff caring for the patient population. Results: During the study period, 1175 patients underwent isolated CABG. Risk adjusted perioperative stroke rates in the first 6 months of 2021 compared to 2022 declined from an O/E ratio of 1.32 to 0.78. Among patients with new post-operative stroke symptoms, the time frame from last known well to symptom recognition decreased from 704 to 486 minutes. Following the implementation of the protocol, one site saw the utilization of inpatient stroke alerts after CABG increase from 81.3% to 100% for patients with new BE-FAST symptoms. Conclusion: Multidisciplinary implementation of best practices was associated with lower risk adjusted perioperative stroke rates, reductions in time to new symptom recognition, and increased utilization of inpatient stroke alert processes. Further study is needed to monitor the effects of the pre-operative evaluation process and the standardization of epiaortic ultrasound. Future goals are to standardize the methods and assess the benefit to other types of cardiac surgery.