Guide to Anesthesia for Cardiac Surgery

This manual is meant to guide the new and returning resident through the steps of a standard pump case for cardiac surgery. After the basic steps of a bypass case are learned, it is important to understand the details of why the anesthesia team, the surgery team, and the perfusionist are doing what they are doing, and why this is one of the most interactive specialties in anesthetic practice. Part I describes what the resident does prior to and during thecase and includes relevant details of the surgical procedure. Because it is one of the more common cardiac surgical procedures, we will describe the steps for a typical coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (or CABG for short). Keep in mind, however, that there are many different types of cardiac surgical procedures and each have their own nuances and intricacies that may differ slightly from what is described here. Part II discusses cardiopulmonary bypass itself.