Conscious sedation versus general anesthesia for transesophageal echocardiography guidance of percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion
Giulia Laterra, Giorgio Sacchetta, Giampiero Vizzari, Giombatista Barrano, Paolo Mazzone, Giovanni Ruscica, Silvia Motta, Maria Sanfilippo, Carmelo Grasso, Salvatore Geraci, Gerlando Pilato, Marco Barbanti, Marco ContariniObjectives
This study sought to compare the transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)-guided left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) procedures under general anesthesia with conscious sedation.
Background
In the expanding field of LAAO procedures, developing minimalistic approaches that eliminate the need for general anesthesia is crucial. Conscious sedation is spreading as an alternative for performing TEE-monitored LAAO procedures.
Methods
For this study, patients enrolled in the registry who underwent LAAO under conscious sedation were compared with those who received general anesthesia. One-to-one propensity score matching was used to balance baseline characteristics between groups. Outcomes assessed included technical success, procedural success, and clinical follow-up.
Results
A total of 231 patients were included. After adjustment, 99 patched pairs treated with LAAO using general anesthesia and conscious sedation were compared. The technical success did not differ between general anesthesia and conscious sedation patients [98 versus 99%;
Conclusion
This study shows that LAAO can be performed with equivalent outcomes under either general anesthesia or conscious sedation.