Recommendations for Surgical Ablation

Referenced studies that support the recommendations are summarized in the Online Data Supplement.

COR	LOE	Recommendations
2a	B-R	1. For patients with AF who are undergoing cardiac surgery, concomitant surgical ablation can be beneficial to reduce the risk of recurrent AF.1–3
2a	B-NR	2. In patients undergoing surgical ablation, anticoagulation therapy is reasonable for at least 3 months after the procedure to reduce the risk of stroke or systemic embolism.2–4
2b	B-R	3. For patients with symptomatic, persistent AF refractory to antiarrhythmic drug therapy a hybrid epicardial and endocardial ablation might be reasonable to reduce the risk of recurrent atrial arrhythmia.5–7