There are two classes of drugs for preventing blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular heartbeat, after cardiac surgery: antiplatelet drugs (like aspirin) and anticoagulants (blood thinners). This study aims to determine whether the addition of blood thinners to antiplatelet drugs will improve treatment outcomes in patients who develop AF after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery.

In this study, you will be randomized (assigned to a group by chance--like flipping a coin) into one of 2 study groups; the assignment to receive the antiplatelet drug alone or the antiplatelet drug plus a blood thinner.

Before discharge from the hospital, you will undergo an electrocardiogram (ECG), which examines the electrical activity of your heart. At 1 and 2 months after randomization, you will receive a phone call from the study staff. At 3 months after randomization, you will return to the institution where you received your surgery for an in-person visit. At 6 months, you will receive a phone call from the study staff. Your total participation will be about 6 months.

This study is being conducted to assess the potential ability of a new method for removing drugs like ticagrelor from blood during heart or aortic surgery, using an adsorption ("sticky") device called DrugSorbTM-ATR. Ticagrelor is a drug that is used to prevent blood cells from clumping together, and therefore decreases the ability of your blood cells to stop bleeding. The DrugSorb™-ATR device may help remove ticagrelor from the blood, and in doing so, reduce the risk of serious bleeding caused by the drug during and after surgery. This device is investigational, which means it has not been approved by the FDA and its safety and effectiveness are unknown.