Postoperative care of adult cardiac surgery patients

Cardiothoracic surgery is a surgical subspeciality that many trainees have had little experience of at an undergraduate level. For this reason many house officers starting a rotation in cardiothoracic surgery view this as a daunting undertaking. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the key issues including cardiac, respiratory, neurological, renal and haemostatic complications, which may arise while managing the postoperative cardiac surgical patient.