Table 1.
Study characteristics
| Study | Moustafa et al, 20073 | Dogan et al, 20034 | Bonacchi et al, 20025 | Aris et al, 19996 |
| Methods | PRCT | PRCT | PRCT | PRCT |
| No of participants | 30+30=60 | 20+20=40 | 40+40=80 | 20+20=40 |
| Mean age in years (full/mini) | 23.8/22.9 | 64.3/65.7 | 62.6/64.0 | 62.2/66.5 |
| Sex M:F (full/mini) | 15:15/16:14 | 11:9/9:11 | – | – |
| Operation | Isolated AVR | Isolated AVR | Isolated AVR | Isolated AVR |
| Interventions | Full sternotomy vs L-shaped mini-sternotomy | Complete sternotomy vs L-shaped mini-sternotomy | Standard sternotomy vs C or L-shaped mini-sternotomy | Median sternotomy vs C or L-shaped mini-sternotomy |
| Pain management with tenoxicam | Pain management with metamizol | |||
| Outcomes | Duration of ventilation | Duration of ventilation | Duration of ventilation | Duration of ventilation |
| Postop blood loss | Postop blood loss | Postop blood loss | Postop blood loss | |
| Length of ICU stay | Length of ICU stay | Length of ICU stay | Length of ICU stay | |
| Pulmonary function | Pulmonary function. | Pulmonary function | Pulmonary function | |
| Analgesic requirement | – | Analgesic requirement | – | |
| Length of hospital stay | Length of hospital stay | Length of hospital stay | Length of hospital stay | |
| Cross-clamp time | Cross-clamp time | Cross-clamp time | Cross-clamp time | |
| Bypass time | Bypass time | Bypass time | Bypass time | |
| Operation time | Operation time | Operation time | Operation time | |
| Survival to discharge | Survival to discharge | Survival to discharge | Survival to discharge |
AVR, aortic valve replacement; ICU, intensive care unit; PRCT, prospective randomised controlled trial.