The Effect of Thoracic Epidural Analgesia on the Occurrence of Late Postoperative Hypoxemia in Patients Undergoing Elective Coronary Bypass Surgery

Both episodic and constant hypoxemia were common in the late postoperative period in patients on the ward after CABG surgery with no clinically significant intergroup differences. Thus, perioperative epidural anesthesia/analgesia combined with postoperative epidural anesthesia/analgesia was not protective against hypoxemia, and therapy with opioids did not seem to be of importance for the occurrence of late postoperative hypoxemia on nights 2 and 3 after CABG surgery.