Comparisons of demographic, clinical, and perioperative variables between patients with and without development of pericardial effusion
| Variable | Effusion present (n=77) | Effusion absent (n=259) | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Significant. | |||
| RVOT, right ventricular outflow tract. | |||
| Median age (years) | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.60 |
| Range | 0.02–20.1 | 0–22.3 | |
| Weight (kg) | 14.83 (13.8) | 14.35 (12.9) | 0.79 |
| Sex (male:female) | 27:50 | 136:123 | 0.009* |
| Cyanotic:acyanotic | 24:53 | 78:181 | 0.89 |
| Previous cardiac surgery | 11 (14.3%) | 38 (14.7%) | 1.00 |
| Types of operation | |||
| Left to right shunt repair | 43/195 (22.1%) | 152/195 (77.9%) | 0.037* |
| RVOT surgery | 19/84 (22.6%) | 65/84 (77.4%) | |
| Arterial switch operation | 1/15 (6.7%) | 14/15 (93.3%) | |
| Fontan procedure | 6/10 (60%) | 4/10 (40%) | |
| Miscellaneous | 8/32 (25%) | 24/32 (75%) | |
| Reoperation for haemostasis | 3 (3.9%) | 3 (1.2%) | 0.13 |
| Pericardial drain removal (days post surgery) | 2.2 (1.2) | 2.1 (1.4) | 0.36 |
| Median first 4 hour total drain output (ml) | 60 | 50 | 0.056 |
| Range | 15–1550 | 0–620 | |
| Median average hourly drain output on operation day (ml/h) | 5.8 | 5.6 | 0.47 |
| Range | 2–101 | 0–57 | |
| Median average hourly drain output on day 1 postoperation (ml/h) | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.98 |
| Range | 0–21 | 0–11 | |
| Warfarin | 10 (13%) | 8 (3%) | 0.002* |
| Diuretic | 69 (90%) | 210 (81%) | 0.17 |