Harvesting techniques of the saphenous vein graft for coronary artery bypass: Insights from a network meta-analysis.

Objective: The optimal harvesting technique of saphenous vein (SVG) in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is still to be elucidated. The present study aimed to compare the methods of SVG harvesting technique, which were open vein harvesting (OVH), endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH), and no-touch vein harvesting (NT), using a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and propensity-score matched (PSM) studies.

Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched through April 2021 to identify RCTs and PSM studies that investigated the outcomes in patients who underwent CABG with the SVG using one of three methods; OVH, EVH, and NT. The outcomes of interest were all-cause mortality, the rates of revascularization, and graft failure. Risk ratios (RRs) were extracted for the rates of graft failure, and hazard ratios (HRs) were extracted for all-cause mortality and the rates of revascularization.

Results: Eligible seven RCT and five PSM studies were identified which enrolled a total of 8111 patients. All-cause mortality was significantly lower in patients with EVH compared with OVH (HR [95% confidence interval (CI)] =0.77 [0.65-0.92], p = .0032). The rates of revascularization were similar among the groups. The rate of graft failures was significantly lower in patients with NT compared with OVH (HR [95% CI] =0.54 [0.32-0.90], p = .019) and with EVH (HR [95% CI] =0.39 [0.17-0.86], p = .023).

Conclusions: NT vein harvesting is favorable for graft patency, and OVH showed higher all-cause mortality than EVH. Further well-powered RCTs are needed to confirm our findings.