Grant: Operating Grant: Priority Announcement (IHSPR)

Despite the reported burden of delays in treating coronary artery disease, no direct estimates are available of a reduction in treatable complications and preventable deaths by ensuring that coronary artery bypass grafting occurs within a clinically appropriate time frame. The point at which the delay in treatment becomes too long has not been established. We propose to study the effects of delays in undergoing the operation. In particular, we will examine the associations between time to surgery and the risk of post-operative complications and the risk of in-hospital deaths among adult patients who underwent the operation in the province of British Columbia between 1991 and 2010. Our primary hypothesis is that delays in undergoing the operation increase the risk of the post-operative complications as well as the risk of in-hospital deaths among patients who experience such complications. We will focus on the outcomes of the operation performed on a semi-urgent and non-urgent basis, because most delays occur in these two situations. The importance of this study arises from the opportunity to generate new knowledge that could lead to improved access to cardiac surgical care for all Canadians.