Clinical Practice, Credentialing, and Reporting Guidelines

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforce on Evidence-Based Surgery has developed evidence-based guidelines to provide practical assistance to the STS membership. Each guideline topic was thoroughly reviewed, and the conclusions and recommendations are based on an exhaustive review of scientific evidence published in the medical literature.

Adult Cardiac Surgery

Antibiotic Prophylaxis

Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Cardiac Surgery, Part I: Duration
A report from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforce on Evidence Based Surgery
Fred H. Edwards, MD, Richard M. Engelman, MD, Peter Houck, MD, David M. Shahian, MD and Charles R. Bridges, MD

Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Cardiac Surgery, Part II: Antibiotic Choice
A report from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforce on Evidence Based Medicine
Richard Engelman, MD, David Shahian, MD, Richard Shemin, MD, T. Sloane Guy, MD, Dale Bratzler, DO, MPH, Fred Edwards, MD, Marshall Jacobs, MD, Hiran Fernando, MD, Charles Bridges, MD, ScD

Anticoagulation During Cardiopulmonary Bypass

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, and The American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology: Clinical Practice Guidelines—Anticoagulation During Cardiopulmonary Bypass
Linda Shore-Lesserson, MD, Robert A. Baker, PhD, CCP, Victor A. Ferraris, MD, PhD, Philip E. Greilich, MD, David Fitzgerald, MPH, CCP, Philip Roman, MD, MPH, and John W. Hammon, MD

Aortic Valve and Ascending Aorta

Aortic Valve and Ascending Aorta Guidelines for Management and Quality Measures
A Special Report from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Aortic Valve +/- Ascending Aorta Guidelines Task Force
Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD (Chair), David H. Adams, MD (Vice-Chair), Robert O. Bonow, MD (Vice-Chair), Nicholas T. Kouchoukos, MD (Vice-Chair), D. Craig Miller, MD (Vice-Chair), Patrick T. O’Gara, MD (Vice-Chair), David M. Shahian, MD (Vice-Chair), Hartzell V. Schaff, MD (Vice-Chair), Cary W. Akins, MD, Joseph Bavaria, MD, Eugene H. Blackstone, MD, Tirone E. David, MD, Nimesh D. Desai, MD, PhD, Todd M. Dewey, MD, Richard S. D’Agostino, MD, Thomas G. Gleason, MD, Katherine B. Harrington, MD, Susheel Kodali, MD, Samir Kapadia, MD, Martin B. Leon, MD, Brian Lima, MD, Bruce W. Lytle, MD, Michael J. Mack, MD, T. Brett Reece, MD, George R. Reiss, MD, Eric Roselli, MD, Craig R. Smith, MD, Vinod H. Thourani, MD, E. Murat Tuzcu, MD, John Webb, MD, and Mathew R. Williams, MD

Arterial Conduits for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Clinical Practice Guidelines on Arterial Conduits for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting
(Supplemental Materials)
Gabriel S. Aldea, MD, Faisal G. Bakaeen, MD, Jay Pal, MD, PhD, Stephen Fremes, MD, Stuart J. Head, MD, PhD, Joseph Sabik, MD, Todd Rosengart, MD, A. Pieter Kappetein, MD, PhD, Vinod H. Thourani, MD, Scott Firestone, MS, and John D. Mitchell, MD

Endovascular Stent-Grafting Credentialing

STS/AATS Position Statement: Guidelines for Credentialing of Practitioners to Perform Endovascular Stent-Grafting of the Thoracic Aorta
Nicholas T. Kouchoukos, MD (Chair), Joseph E. Bavaria, MD, Joseph S. Coselli, MD, Ralph De La Torre, MD, John S. Ikonomidis, MD, Riyad C. Karmy-Jones, MD, Robert Scott Mitchell, MD, Richard J. Shemin, MD, David Spielvogel, MD, Lars G. Svensson, MD, and Grayson H. Wheatley, MD

Patient Blood Management

STS/SCA/AmSECT/SABM Update to the Clinical Practice Guidelines on Patient Blood Management
Pierre Tibi, MD, R. Scott McClure, MD, FRCSC, Jiapeng Huang, MD, Robert A. Baker, PhD, CCP, David Fitzgerald, DHA, CCP, C. David Mazer, MD, Marc Stone, MD, Danny Chu, MD, Alfred H. Stammers, MSA, CCP Emeritus, Tim Dickinson, CCP, Linda Shore-Lesserson, MD, Victor Ferraris, MD, Scott Firestone, MS, Kalie Kissoon, and Susan Moffatt-Bruce, MD, FRCSC

Reporting Mortality and Morbidity After Cardiac Valve Interventions

Joint STS/AATS/EACTS Report: Guidelines for Reporting Mortality and Morbidity After Cardiac Valve Interventions
Cary W. Akins, MD, D. Craig Miller, MD, Marko I. Turina, MD, Nicholas T. Kouchoukos, MD, Eugene H. Blackstone, MD, Gary L. Grunkemeier, PhD, Johanna J. M. Takkenberg, MD, PhD, Tirone E. David, MD, Eric G. Butchart, MD, David H. Adams, MD, David M. Shahian, MD, Siegfried Hagl, MD, John E. Mayer, Jr., MD, and Bruce W. Lytle, MD

Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons 2017 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation
(Supplemental Materials)
Vinay Badhwar, MD, J. Scott Rankin, MD, Ralph J. Damiano, Jr, MD, A. Marc Gillinov, MD, Faisal G. Bakaeen, MD, James R. Edgerton, MD, Jonathan M. Philpott, MD, Patrick M. McCarthy, MD, Steven F. Bolling, MD, Harold G. Roberts, MD, Vinod H. Thourani, MD, Rakesh M. Suri, MD, DPhil, Richard J. Shemin, MD, Scott Firestone, MS, and Niv Ad, MD

Guidelines for Reporting Data and Outcomes for the Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation
A report from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforce on Evidence Based Surgery
Richard J. Shemin, MD, James L. Cox, MD, A. Marc Gillinov, MD, Eugene H. Blackstone, MD, Charles R. Bridges, MD

Transesophageal Echocardiography

Guidelines for the Use of Transesophageal Echocardiography to Assist with Surgical Decision-Making in the Operating Room: A Surgery-Based Approach From the American Society of Echocardiography in Collaboration with the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Alina Nicoara, Chair, MD, FASE, Nikolaos Skubas, Co-Chair, MD, DSc, FASE, Niv Ad, MD, Alan Finley, MD, FASE, Rebecca T. Hahn, MD, FASE, Feroze Mahmood, MD, FASE, Sunil Mankad, MD, FASE, Charles B. Nyman, MBBCh, Francis Pagani, MD, PhD, Thomas R. Porter, MD, FASE, Kent Rehfeldt, MD, FASE, Marc Stone, MD, Bradley Taylor, MD, MPH, Annette Vegas, MD, FRCPC, FASE, Karen G. Zimmerman, BS, ACS, RDCS (AE, PE), RVT, FASE, William A. Zoghbi, MD, FASE, and Madhav Swaminathan, MD, FASE

Type B Aortic Dissections

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American Association for Thoracic Surgery Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Type B Aortic Dissection

Thomas E. MacGillivray, MD, Thomas G. Gleason, MD, Himanshu J. Patel, MD, Gabriel S. Aldea, MD, Joseph E. Bavaria, MD, Thomas M. Beaver, MD, Edward P. Chen, MD, Martin Czerny, MD, Anthony L. Estrera, MD, Scott Firestone, MS, Michael P. Fischbein, MD, G. Chad Hughes, MD, Dawn S. Hui, MD, Kalie Kissoon, Jennifer S. Lawton, MD, Davide Pacini, MD, T. Brett Reece, MD, Eric E. Roselli, MD, and John Stulak, MD

General Thoracic Surgery

Multimodality Treatment for Cancer of the Esophagus and Gastroesophageal Junction

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Practice Guidelines on the Role of Multimodality Treatment for Cancer of the Esophagus and Gastroesophageal Junction
Alex G. Little, MD, Antoon E. Lerut, MD, PhD, David H. Harpole, MD, Wayne L. Hofstetter, MD, John D. Mitchell, MD, Nasser K. Altorki, MD, and Mark J. Krasna, MD

Malignant Pleural Effusions

Management of Malignant Pleural Effusions: An Official ATS/STS/STR Clinical Practice Guideline

David J. Feller-Kopman*, Chakravarthy B. Reddy*, Malcolm M. DeCamp, Rebecca L. Diekemper, Michael K. Gould, Travis Henry, Narayan P. Iyer, Y. C. Gary Lee, Sandra Z. Lewis, Nick A. Maskell, Najib M. Rahman, Daniel H. Sterman, Momen M. Wahidi, and Alex A. Balekian; on behalf of the American Thoracic Society, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and Society of Thoracic Radiology

Prophylaxis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation Associated With General Thoracic Surgery

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Practice Guideline on the Prophylaxis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation Associated With General Thoracic Surgery: Executive Summary
Hiran C. Fernando, MD, Michael T. Jaklitsch, MD, Garrett L. Walsh, MD, James E. Tisdale, PhD, Charles D. Bridges, MD, ScD, John D. Mitchell, MD, and Joseph B. Shrager, MD

Congenital Heart Surgery

Protecting the Infant Brain During Cardiac Surgery

Protecting the Infant Brain During Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review
Jennifer C. Hirsch, MD, MS, Marshall L. Jacobs, MD, Dean Andropoulos, MD, Erle H. Austin, MD, Jeffrey P. Jacobs, MD, Daniel J. Licht, MD, Frank Pigula, MD, James S. Tweddell, MD, and J. William Gaynor, MD

Suggest a Guideline Topic

STS Guideline Policies

STS Clinical Practice Guidelines are intended to assist physicians and other health care providers in clinical decision-making by describing a range of generally acceptable approaches for the diagnosis, management, or prevention of specific diseases or conditions. These guidelines should not be considered inclusive of all proper methods of care or exclusive of other methods of care reasonably directed at obtaining the same results. Moreover, these guidelines are subject to change over time, without notice. The ultimate judgment regarding the care of a particular patient must be made by the physician in light of the individual circumstances presented by the patient.

STS Systematic Reviews are intended to compliment clinical practice guidelines in assisting physicians and other health care providers in clinical decision-making by evaluating the strength of evidence regarding particular treatments, and determining whether the level is sufficient enough to make recommendations for clinical practice. These reviews should not be considered inclusive of all proper methods of care or exclusive of other methods of care reasonably directed at obtaining the same results. Moreover, these reviews are subject to change over time, without notice. The ultimate judgment regarding the care of a particular patient must be made by the physician in light of the individual circumstances presented by the patient.

STS Clinical Practice Guidelines may be printed or downloaded for individual and personal use only. Guidelines may not be reproduced in any print or electronic publication or offered for sale or distribution in any format without the express written permission of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.