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World J Cardiol. Nov 26, 2026; 18(11): 127753
Published online Nov 26, 2026. doi: 10.4330/wjc.127753
Published online Nov 26, 2026. doi: 10.4330/wjc.127753
Preoperative frailty and length of hospital stay after coronary artery bypass grafting
Ai-Hsiu Hung, Department of Nursing, Taipei City Hospital Zhongxing Branch, Taipei 103, Taiwan
Tsung-Neng Tsai, Department of Cardiology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical University, Taipei 114, Taiwan
Wei-Chun Huang, Pingtung Christian Hospital, Pingtung 90059, Taiwan
Wei-Chun Huang, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
Gen-Min Lin, Department of Medicine, Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital, Hualien 971, Taiwan
Author contributions: Hung AH and Lin GM drafted the manuscript, synthesized data, and prepared tables; Hung AH and Tsai TN conducted the literature search and generated figures; Huang WC, Tsai TN and Lin GM critically revised the manuscript for concepts, designed future directions, and finalized the manuscript structure. All authors contributed to the critical revision and approved the final version for submission.
AI contribution statement: During the preparation of this work, the authors used Google Gemini Pro for grammar checking, copy editing, and generating illustrative Figure 1. After using this tool/service, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the published article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing or financial conflicts of interest related to this work.
Corresponding author: Gen-Min Lin, Director, FACC, FAHA, FESC, Department of Medicine, Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital, No. 100 Jinfeng Street, Hualien 971, Taiwan.
Received: September 7, 2026
Revised: September 27, 2026
Accepted: October 26, 2026
Published online: November 26, 2026
Processing time: 70 Days and 2.8 Hours
Revised: September 27, 2026
Accepted: October 26, 2026
Published online: November 26, 2026
Processing time: 70 Days and 2.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Preoperative frailty and functional impairment robustly predict perioperative morbidity, complication rates, and long-term mortality following coronary artery bypass grafting. However, single-domain functional measures, such as handgrip strength and habitual physical activity levels, demonstrate inconsistent associations with acute postoperative length of hospital stay. This discrepancy reflects the predominant influence of acute surgical complications and non-clinical discharge determinants over baseline functional metrics. Multimodal prehabilitation and multi-domain risk stratification offer promising avenues to translate functional assessment into improved clinical trajectories.