What does EVH means when its written with CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting) ?
EVH means endoscopic vessel harvesting, which is a more refined method of removing, or harvesting, a vein from body to use as a graft during bypass surgery. Via an "endoscope", surgeon view the veins inside the leg and makes only one to three small incisions. The surgeon then removes a vein through one of the incisions. Compared to traditional vessel harvesting, EVH uses smaller incisions and may lead to less pain, faster healing, and smaller scars. It may be of extreme benefit in diabetic population, prone to infections, peripheral vascular disease and neuropathy.
To note, EVH takes significantly longer time compared to the traditional harvesting technique. Also, it has been said that carbon dioxide (CO2) insufflation used during EVH to facilitate the procedure may cause CO2 embolism but so far no significant data has shown reports of massive CO2 embolism with significant hemodynamic alterations.
References: Click to see abstract/article
1. Endoscopic saphenous vein harvesting for CABG -- a randomized, prospective trial. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2002 Jun;50(3):160-3
2. Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Embolism for Endoscopic Saphenous Vein Harvesting - Thorac Surg 2006;81:1697-1699
