Antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) and retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP) are the two major types of brain protection during aortic arch surgery. Which one is better has still been debated. By summarizing and analyzing the research progress of the comparative research of antegrade cerebral perfusion and retrograde cerebral perfusion in aortic arch surgery, we have found that there was no significant difference between ACP and RCP in terms of temporary nerve dysfunction (TND), permanent nerve dysfunction (PND), stroke, early mortality, morbidity, long-time survival, and a composite outcome of hospital death, bleeding, prolonged ventilation, need for dialysis, infection and stroke. But RCP resulted in a high incidence of prolonged mean ICU-stay and hospital-stay, longer mean extubation time as well as higher cost. And the surgeon is given more time to reconstruct the vessels of the arch since mean operative time is longer in the ACP. So we think that antegrade cerebral perfusion might be preferred as the brain protection method for complicated aortic arch procedures. If a surgeon confirms that the surgery is not very sophisticated and can be completed in a short time, it is better to choose RCP because of no catheter or cannula in the surgical field to impede the surgeon. The article aims at providing a reference to cardiac surgeries when choosing cerebral protection strategy in aortic arch surgery.
Objective To investigate the combined effects of digastric muscle low frequency modulated medium frequency electro-acupuncture therapy and voice training for dysphagia in patients who underwent aortic arch surgery. Methods Forty-two consecutive patients with dysphagia after aortic arch surgery between October 2014 and November 2017 were divided into two groups including an observation group and a control group. There were 21 patients in each group. There were 17 males and 4 females at age of 51.0±6.5 years in the observation group, while 18 males and 3 females at age of 49.8±7.3 years in the control group. The patients in the observation group underwent electroacupuncture therapy and voice training (20 min per day for each therapy, 2 weeks), while the patients in the control group only received safe swallowing education and rehabilitation guidance (2 weeks). The test results, such as fibrolaryngoscope and functional oral intake scale (FOIS) score, and the data of computer phonatory detection, before and after the intervention were compared. Results The fibrolaryngoscope of vocal cords significantly decreased and the FOIS score significantly increased after digastric muscle low frequency modulated medium frequency electro-acupuncture therapy and voice training in the observation group(6.30 vs. 4.60, P<0.05). Bucking was obviously reduced. The indicators of hoarse degree, such as median pitch, fundamental frequency, jitter (0.60%±0.96%vs. 1.99%±1.86%, P=0.033), shimmer (2.47%±4.26% vs. 5.89%±3.66%, P=0.043), maximum phonation time (15.31±9.10 s vs. 3.72±8.83 s, P=0.006), maximum and loud phonation time (9.30±5.73 s vs. 2.32±2.99 s, P=0.039), mean noise-to-harmonics ratio (23.99±10.17 vs .9.98±9.37, P=0.006) and mean harmonics-to-noise ratio (0.03±0.02 vs. 0.17±0.23, P=0.019) improved after the treatment in both groups. But the improvement in the observation group was significantly better than that in the control group. Conclusion The combination of digastric muscle low frequency modulated medium frequency electro-acupuncture therapy and voice training on dysphagia in patients who underwent aortic arch surgery can significantly improve the swallowing function of patients. Meanwhile, it also helps the recovery of phonic function and improves the ability of feeding and communication in these patients.