Abstract Objective: The current review evaluates recent literature on the different aspects of prophylaxis in postoperative pulmonary and venous thromboembolism and their main risk factors. Methods: The literature survey was carried out based on the PubMed data using the keywords “coronary artery bypass graft” and “venous thromboembolism” as components of the search field title. Results: Studies reported several risk factors for postoperative thromboembolism including advanced age, postoperative immobilization, type of thromboprophylaxis, obesity, and location of the surgery. Conclusion: According to the studies, tailored prophylaxis could be easily adapted to decrease the intensity and duration of postoperative thromboembolism in a patient with several disorders and comorbidities, especially in cardiovascular disease.

Abstract Objective: Cardiac arrhythmias are a common challenge following open-heart surgeries. Hypomagnesemia is believed to be correlated with this condition. Prophylactic intravenous magnesium supplementation has been practiced for a long time in patients undergoing CABG. This study was designed in an attempt to compare the efficacy of oral versus intravenous routes in the prevention of hypomagnesemia and arrhythmia. Methods: In this interventional clinical study, 82 patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups. All patients were evaluated for baseline serum magnesium level and arrhythmias. One group received 1,600 mg of oral magnesium hydroxide through nasogastric (NG) tube prior to surgery, while the other group received 2 g of magnesium sulfate during the induction of anesthesia. The serum magnesium level was monitored for 48 hours after the operation. The difference in preoperative hypomagnesemia was non-significant (Sig: 0.576). Results: During the operation, the serum magnesium level peaked around 4 mg/dL, and no hypomagnesemia was detected in any patient. Although the curve of oral group declined parallel and below that of intravenous (IV) group, no significant differences were detected during postoperative monitoring. In addition, a prevalence of arrhythmia of 13.9% and 6.5% was noticed in IV and oral groups, respectively (OR: 0.428). Conclusion: Providing 1,600 mg of oral magnesium supplement to patients is as effective as 2,000 mg of magnesium sulfate IV in preventing hypomagnesemia and arrhythmia after CABG. Thus, the authors introduce this treatment regimen as a promising and cost-effective method.