Abstract:Objective To evaluate early clinical outcomes of no-touch saphenous vein harvesting with ultrasonic scalpel in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting（OPCABG）. Methods A total of 80 patients with three vessel coronary artery disease undergoing OPCABG using saphenous vein grafts in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January to August 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The 26 patients who obtained the great saphenous vein using the harmonic scalpel non-touch technique were served as the NT group, and the 54 patients who obtained the great saphenous vein by the conventional method were served as the routine group. Clinical data including duration of surgery, the number of vein graft anastomoses, the number of side branches requiring clipping, ligating or suturing, re-exploration for hemorrhage, duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, ICU stay, and hospital stay, and postoperative lower extremity incision complications were compared between the two groups. Results There was no recurrence of acute myocardial infarction and no death after operation in both groups, and all patients were cured and discharged. No difference was found between the two groups in operation time, the number of vein graft anastomoses, duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, ICU stay, and hospital stay, as well as postoperative lower extremity incision complications（P＞0.05）. The number of side branches requiring clipping, ligating or suturing in NT group was 4（3, 5） according to ［M（P₂₅,P₇₅）］, which was significantly less than 9（8, 11） in routine group（P＜0.01）. Poor healing of lower limb incision occurred in 1 case in NT group and 5 cases in routine group（P＞0.05）. Postoperative secondary thoracotomy for hemostasis was found in 1 case in routine group and none in NT group. Conclusion The great saphenous vein harvested with no-touch technique using harmonic scalpel is safe and effective in OPCABG without increasing the duration of operation and complications of lower extremity incision.