Dual Antiplatelet Therapy after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: A Review

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is the gold standard treatment for relieving angina symptoms and reducing mortality among ischemic heart disease patients. As post-operative thrombosis of the grafts has been a frequent complication of CABG, antiplatelet therapy remains essential to maintain graft patency. Since a long time, aspirin has been used as a single anti-platelet agent post CABG. However, in some high risk patients aspirin alone is insufficient in preventing graft occlusion. Therefore, dual antiplatelet therapy involving aspirin plus clopidogrel is becoming increasingly popular. Aspirin plus clopidogrel therapy has proved to be highly efficacious in patients with acute coronary syndrome; however, its role in patients after CABG has remained unclear. In this review, we outline the effects of dual antiplatelet therapy involving aspirin plus clopidogrel with respect to graft patency, post-operative angina/myocardial infarction, major bleeding event and mortality.